Death Note 2020 Rebirth Part 2
by SherrieJ1010
Summary: The shinigami, Belphagor gives his death note to a Kira worshipper, Taro. Feeling blessed, Kira returns on a massive scale. With more Shinigami coming to the human world, World War III looms on the horizon as six humans get their hands on a death note; six death notes, six inhabited continents, six owners all using the notebooks for their own motives. L's work is far from over.


**Death Note 2020-Part 2**

**Choices**

"Wait, Kira was your father?"

"Yes, his name was Light Yagami. She has never mentioned my father's name but we share the same last name."

"How do you know Light Yagami was Kira?"

"I read about him in the reports my mom had kept from the investigation. She didn't hide them too well. My mother, Stephan and L-no Near exposed Light to be Kira and with him caught a shinigami named Ryuk killed him."

"Why don't you hate Stephan?"

"Sani betrayed the one she supposedly loved. Stephan had no connection to him. At least he is taking care of me too. Sani is too busy working with Kiara and Near to pay any attention to me."

"Sani..." he says to himself. The name sounds familiar to Lucca but he cannot pinpoint why. "She probably doesn't want to see your face because you remind her of her sin."

"The sad thing is I really don't look like him though so she can't even use that excuse." He looks in the mirror at his dark almost black hair and dark brown eyes-both darker than Light's.

"Well, at least one of your parents is still alive and you have someone that is taking care of you that isn't a promiscuous drunk. Goodnight, Taro." Lucca curls up on the couch under a blanket while Taro continues to look at himself in the mirror, seeing his face as Light's. He holds his head as a headache arises from him not understanding why his mother would kill her husband- the man Taro worships even in death, why she didn't embrace his ideals and most importantly why didn't she love him or Taro enough to save his father's life for his sake.

Japan 2007. Sani approaches the graves of L and Watari the Kira investigation team had made for them without anyone else knowing; they wanted the world to think L was still alive for they didn't know about his successors. She thought they had all left but she quickly hides behind a tree seeing that one person remains. His back is to her but she can hear him. He seems to be laughing to himself hysterically. She can't tell if he is truly distraught or elated. And then he talks to himself quietly at first and them loudly.

"Now everything...my way...gone. Everyone... believes... me. It's only... time before... rid... police." He's on all fours shouting at L's gravestone now.

"What do you think of that, L? This is my perfect victory! That's right, I win!" A devilish smirk and raging eyes show on his face, an expression Sani can't see but can feel. She gets closer to hear what his is saying as his voice level lowers.

"Did you say that you no longer have anything interesting to look forward to, Ryuk? Well, that won't be the case." He gets back onto his feet. "From now on, I will show you the creation of the new world."

He walks away, his hair still shrouding his face. Sani knows he must be Kira; a man in a suit with short light brown hair, a brilliantly-masked dark disposition who talks to an invisible being named, Ryuk. Knowing that Light was L's main suspect of being Kira-this chance encounter proved to Sani that her cousin was deceiving them all.

Confirming that this was L's and Watari's graves, Sani contacts Roger to have them moved to Winchester. Sani makes a plot for them in the graveyard behind the church with their names and dates of birth and death on the gravestones. She gets them ready for the proper funeral tomorrow morning with many of his successors, current and past children of Wammy House all coming to Winchester to pay their respects. She engraves epitaphs on each; Quillish Wammy, 1936-2007, Famous inventor and father to all the children of the Wammy House. Linkin Lawliet, she puts to not draw suspicion from the one letter first name, 1982-2007, justice for all the children of the world who are free to choose their own path. Surrounding their graves with flowers she talks to them for a while, her tear droplets on the petals and leaves on the flowers. A man approaches her from behind as she stands up to wipe off the dirt and grass from her skirt and tears from her eyes.

"Linkin Lawliet? So that is L's real name? He says. She turns around hoping that Kira hadn't followed her here after the press release about Watari's death and Wammy's House for the gifted. Despite having a suit on, seeing the man having semi-long dark brown hair and dark eyes and a familiar face she is at ease.

"How do you know L?" She asks.

"You mean you don't remember me, Sani. We grew up together; even of it was only for a short time." She looks at his face closer trying to picture him as a child. Slowly a name comes to mind.

"R-ei..ji? Reiji Namikawa!"

"That's right." She gives him a big hug with her head to his chest. Caught off guard, his arms are trapped in her grip.

"It's been so long, I haven't seen you since your parents found you." She says as she looks up at him.

"A little late since I was already fifteen, but I know; it's been almost fifteen years." He smiles as he looks down at her being taller-he being 5'9" and she being 5'3".

"Yes, you left when Bran came. You are a little older than us; that's why I don't remember you as well."

"For not remembering me, you are very comfortable with hugging me." Sani releases her embrace feeling embarrassed.

"Have you kept in touch with the others or Rodger?" A tear falls from her eye and Reiji wipes it away.

"A few, but I have been busy with establishing a career. It would seem I picked the wrong company to work for though."

"Oh, thank you." She takes her collar of her short to clean her face. "Where do you work?"

"Have you heard of the corporation, Yotsuba?"

"Yes, that's a corporation in Japan right? I haven't heard anything to good lately, though. The rumor is that Kira helped them eliminate their competition."

"It's more than a rumor, it's the truth…one of our top members was Kira, but L helped us regain control over our company. I even spoke with him and we both thought Kira to be the same person. No wonder I earned the title "I'."

"Roger told you that he died?"

"Yes, there are only a few of us from the first generation that keep in contact with him. He also informed me that I'm not in the running to succeed L any longer. Apparently two kids from the fourth generation are the best candidates." He shrugs his shoulders feeling indifferent.

"Mello and Near…those two are something else. It sounds like you have a bright future ahead of you! Well, I'm happy I got to see you again. I live in Kyoto now, but if you ever want to get together for dinner or something- let me know." She tucks her hair behind her ear and smiles at him.

"Oh, of course. I'll see you around, Sani." He bows to her and she bows to him. As he leaves to meet with Roger he notices much space in the plot for more graves; little did they know that Mello, Matt and others would find their resting place here in the years that follow. Not soon after L's death, Reiji Namikawa was buried behind L; Kira had killed him too. At his funeral with her hair concealing her emotions, holding Kiara's hand with one hand and her other hand in a fist tells it all, she swears that she will capture Kira no matter what.

Reiji Namikawa was the vice president of sales at the international corporation called Yotsuba whose headquarters was in Tokyo. Naturally, being a leader of sales, his social skills were one of his best talents but he also was a highly skilled Shogi player (Japanese Chess). Sani was the only person to ever challenge and beat him at Wammy's House. Briefly before L's death, Light had given ownership of his death note to Kyosuke Higuchi to turn L's suspicions away from him and Misa and to another Kira; eight men where part of the meetings that decided who Kira would kill next. The catch is that none knew who possessed the death note so they had to participate in fear of Kira killing them.

Eventually Reiji wanted to know which one of them was Kira after L had contacted him being almost certain that Reiji wasn't Kira. Ruling out Hatori after being killed first because he didn't want to participate in the meetings and Mido and Shimura after they revealed to Reiji that they weren't Kira, they narrowed it down to Takahashi, Kida, Ooi or Higuchi. Knowing that one of the four is known to be obsessed with money and status they all agreed that Higuchi had to be Kira. Soon after their meeting, L carries out his plan to apprehend Higuchi and was able to discover how Kira was killing people-the death note and the shinigami attached to it. Taking it in his possession, when Light was allowed to touch it to see the shinigami, Rem-all of his memories returned at once. When an owner of the death note gives ownership to another until he or she touches it again they lose all their memories of association with the death note.

With Higuchi dead after Light killing him, Yotsuba's remaining members had to clean up the mess he made, slowly regaining the trust of other major international corporations. When Light was able to get rid of L, he killed anyone who knew about the death note-meaning all the Yotsuba men. Setting their death dates six months after L's, as they were about to start a new beginning for their company one by one they fell to the ground of the meeting room-all dying from heart attacks seconds after the other.

Kyoto 2008. Sani returns to Japan with Kiara to continue law school at Kyoto University; she is on her second year. While in law school, she quickly learned how Kira has influenced court systems and most lawyers are afraid to be a defense attorney to those that the public thinks to be guilty and prosecutors against those who the public thinks as innocent. In both cases many lawyers have witnessed Kira past judgment on all parties involved, but Sani sees them as coincidences knowing that Light only kills criminals…and those in his way. Sani also quickly learned which future lawyers not to trust- all of them. Many stir up drama inside and outside the courtroom and Sani avoided it the best she could. For the most part she keeps to herself feeling out of place being three years older than most of them since she started school when she was 20.

On a short lunch break between classes she sits on a ledge on the roof of the library and eats Ramen noodles. She burns her tongue multiple times trying to scarf down the food quickly. She fans her tongue and gulps down cold water. She pours some of her cold water in the noodle cup to cool it down but it dilutes the flavor. She hears a faint giggle in the distance as she tosses the noodles an eats an energy bar instead. Thinking she was alone, she scopes out the area to see a man reading a newspaper pretending that he wasn't watching her amusing antics. She pretends to walk away but she sneaks up behind him to see what he is reading.

"You're definitely a law student. Reading up on the latest criminal news I see." He calmly lowers the newspaper and turns around to face her.

"A superior student is always learning, even on break. Today I learned that even some adults still don't know how to eat noodles. Although, you don't look Japanese so I guess it's okay."

"For your information I am Japanese; that's one of the races I do know that I am." She says with one hand on her hip and the other hand's fingers snapping in a Z-formation.

"Black is another one I assume." He turns his attention back to his newspaper.

"So you're just going to make a snide remark and ignore me now! What are you reading that's so important?" She snatches the newspaper out of his hand.

"I scare myself sometimes." He says with his chin resting on his hands contemplatively. Sani reads the list of criminal names who Kira has judge and even some corrupt businessmen- the Yotsuba members were among them. "Many of the people who I thought Kira should delete-were. I want to believe it is all a coincidence." He stands up and turns to Sani. "I don't know why I am telling you all this. Looking into your eyes I can see the pain injustice has caused you."

"You're right. Many of my loved ones have died without their killer being brought to justice." She hangs her head down, but the man raises it back up.

"Fear not, Kira will make all right. He has already proven to me that people will pay for their sins and divine judgment will be passed on them. This truth has been proven again and again to me since I was a child. Justice will prevail." He smiles at her thinking of the days where the bullied overwhelmed the bullies in middle school, when three of the worst bullies in his high school were killed in a car crash and even when a bystander-his mother got hit by their car and died. His mother didn't want Teru to get beat up at school every day for standing up for what he believe in. She told him to give into peer pressure to keep himself safe from the violence-beatings meant for other kids.

Sani's mixed feelings about Kira arise again. She knows his intentions were good but the way he has gone about it is evil. But then she wonders if her mother had left her with the Yagamis from the start, would she support Light and be a devote follower like this man? Intrigued by this man, she puts herself in his mindset.

"You're right, again. I want to become a defense attorney to keep the falsely accused and those who can be reformed out of jail. The court system needs much reform as much as the law does." He softly runs his hand through her hair.

"We can reform all together. I have two more years of school before I can begin my career-my lifelong mission. Will you join me…?"

"Sani, Sani Lawliet." She extends her hand.

"Teru, Teru Mikami" he copies and shakes her hand.

"You can just call me Teru, though." He folds up the newspaper, tucks it into his bag and heads down the stairs as Sani gathers her things and follows behind him. They walk to the law school building holding hands. Teru notices she has a ring on her left ring finger and she simply tells him the truth, "He died before we could get married." They arrive at the building but head to different classes, but before they part ways Teru makes an offer.

"I live in an apartment complex not too far from campus. Yoshiashinmachi: apartment number 1012. You should come over sometime-I can cook you a more traditional noddle dish."

"I may take you up on that offer, Teru."

As Sani got deeper and deeper into a relationship with Teru, she learns his views on many things; how he believes that it is harder to reform a person as they get older, those who have no reason to exist is a threat to those around them, wanting to be a prosecuting attorney to pass judgment on criminals so Kira can "delete" them and that evil will be "deleted." Things he took to an extreme when he obtained the death note years also sees how hard it would be for him to have a child in his life. He lives a very schedule-orderly life; going to the gym certain days at certain times for a certain amount of time, when he goes to the bank, what time he wakes up to get ready in the morning and how long it takes him and especially how neat and orderly he keeps his apartment. For the time being, she keeps Kiara a secret until she can decide on if she wants him to be involved in their lives and he want to be involved in Kiara's as a father. The one thing that she changed in this routine was what time he went to sleep with varied by how long they stayed out on the town and how long they stayed up fooling around.

Kyoto 2009. At one point, Halle came to visit Sani with Mello from the States; at the time Mello is only sixteen and Halle took the role of being his "legal guardian" really letting him do what he wants. Sani always saw their relationship as a little weird since she knew both liked each other on a much more loving level beyond just "mother " and "son" despite being ten years apart and Halle being Sani's age.

When Halle joined the Kira investigation she made it very clear that she wasn't on Near or Mello's side- she just wanted to catch Kira for killing a relative of hers. While investigating Kiyomi Takada, she would leak information to Mello on her own an eventually by Near's request as well. She did know Mello before Near however, but Mello was too young to remember anything before Wammy House.

She tells them how intense Mikami's beliefs and feelings about Kira are and if she should be so involved with a man who believes Kira to be God. Mello suggest that she stick with him just in case he finds some use for him in the future to catch Kira before Near does and Halle agrees. Contacting Near as well, he suggests the same thing and tells her to encourage Mikami to attend events where Kira will be watching and maybe Kira will pass his power onto him. Not even knowing it then, their plan was already set in motion and Kira did eventually notice Teru Mikami when he started to frequent TV programs for debates and public opinions on Kira on the infamous program known as "Sakura TV' and later by "Kira's Kingdom."

Summer 2009. Being on break from school, Sani thought it would be the perfect time for Mikami to meet her daughter-but first she needed to tell him about her. Just recently Mikami had asked her to move in with him and she hasn't told him yes or no yet. At his apartment they eat dinner quietly. Sani is hoping to start a conversation in which she can tell him not so abruptly but he is quiet tonight-waiting for her to say something. So she does.

"Teru, remember when I told you I was engaged when we first met?" She says as she looks down at her plate trying to cut her chicken breast.

"Yes. But you said he died…don't tell me that was a lie." He leans over the table and grips her arm so she'll stop cutting her meat. She looks at him in the eyes.

"He did die, that part is true but I haven't been completely honest about my past relationship." He scrunches his eyebrows as he looks in her eyes trying to find out the truth before she says it. "We did thing backwards I guess. I have a daughter and her name is Kiara. She is nine years old. She's over my aunt's house most nights so that is why you never meet her when you came over." Removing his hand from her arm, he sits back down in his chair. "Do you think you can handle someone else's child in your life?" He folds his hands together in front of his mouth and close his eyes as he takes a deep breath through his nose.

"Why did you wait this long to tell me something as important as this?"

"I was afraid to ruin something good before I realized what this was. I know having a child in your life is a big change, but I'm hoping you a willing to make that change for me. I love you, Teru." She sets hands on the table palm-up as if she is pleading her case. He sits back and folds his arms, looking away from her.

"No, if you love me you'd know me by now. I don't want children, Sani.-not yours, not some other man's and not mine." He slams his hands on the table as he knocks his chair back. "Do you really think we can raise a child properly with our careers!? You already devote so much time to school and I." She hangs her mouth open unable to respond. "Who knows how damaged your daughter's life already is if you're here all the time, your aunt is raising her and her father is dead!" She puts her arms around her stomach as she hangs her head in shame-soaking the floor and table with her tears. "She'll end up as one of your clients one day and you'll defend the guilty. Is that what you want?"

"How…dare…you. How dare you judge my daughter- you don't even know her! How dare you call me a bad mother!" Her eyes are filled with rage as she slams her hands on the table and knocks over her chair.

"You're the one who said it, not I. Now, get out. If you really love me…no if you really love yourself and your child-you will leave." He turns away from her and jerks his head in the direction of the door.

"So that's it. This is how you want to end it?" She asks him as she walks to the door. He walks off to his bedroom and locks the door without saying a word, without knowing if she left or not. He runs water in his bathroom sink as he looks at himself in the mirror. He knows where his job can lead him especially in a world where Kira and those against him still exist. He doesn't know if Kira will prevail and Teru will be a hero to his people or if Kira will fall and he will be killed for believing Kira to be God. Either way he will be guilty by association and he doesn't intend on straying from the path he has set for himself-no matter who comes in and out of his life, no matter the consequences of his actions. In the mirror he sees himself fixing his tie as a prosecuting attorney but behind him is height bars used in mug shots. With an emotionless expression, he can feel his heart hardening.

January 25th, 2013. Matt and Mello are in Kiara's room. Matt is hunched over the side of her bed loading his smoke bomb gun while Mello is researching the schedule of a delivery truck he can use to kidnap Takada on her laptop at her desk. Kiara's arms are wrapped around Matt's waist as she uses his butt as a pillow. Mello's motorcycle helmet lies next to Matt's car keys on Kiara's nightstand. Down the hall, Sachiko Yagami leaves a bedroom in her pajamas. She tells Kiara and the boys goodnight before heading downstairs to tell Sani she's going to bed. She pays no mind to Kiara having two clearly older boys planning on sleeping in her room. Downstairs, seeing her with her head on the piano's keys she rubs her back and asks her, "What's wrong, my niece?" as she puts on her coat.

"Just tired, auntie. Thank you for watching him for me today. I won't make this a routine I promise."

"Oh you know I don't mind. I love the company. Little man and I visited Sayu today. He really helped her smile again today-even if it was just a faint one."

"I hope she recovers quickly." Sani hugs her goodnight.

"She will, I just know she will." She smiles and heads to a guest room one the first level of the home.

Sani sits on the couch drinking a glass of water while listening to a CD with a collection of jazz music. She keeps it loud enough to drown out her thought but low enough to hear the door. 10:30 at night, the doorbell rings as Sani was drifting off to sleep. She jumps up at the sound feeling alarmed. Regaining her composure, she ties back her hair with the hair-tie she keeps around her wrist and fixes her clothes to look somewhat presentable. The doorbell sounds off again and she starts unlocking the door. Opening the door, the porch light illuminates the figure of the man standing on the other side. Wearing his glasses, his suit and tie, the man she hadn't spoken to in almost four years now stands at her door wanting to come in.

**Kira**

Earlier that day Sani and Kiara were shopping when she ran into him. He was coming out of the bank; he always goes to the bank on the 25th of the month unless it is a Sunday. In his safe deposit box he had stored the real death note and wrote down the names of a month's worth of criminals. The death note he carried on him was a fake; Light wanted Near to believe he didn't have the real one. When Near wanted to meet face-to-face with Light on the 28th, he knew Light would have Teru write down everyone's names but Kira's with the real death note. Teru went to the bank on the 25th and the 26th this month and Stephan who was tailing him found this odd. On the 26th, Kiyomi Takada was kidnapped and Teru took it upon himself to kill her for Light-without his permission or knowledge. Knowing the location of the real death note, Stephan made an identical copy that night and left the fake one in Teru's safe deposit box while giving the real one to Near. Mikami didn't even know Stephan had tampered with it even after examining it again and again with a microscope.

Sani invites him in. He removes his shoes and walks towards the couch waiting for her to decide where they will sit down and talk. She motions him to sit down on the loveseat while she sits down on the three-seater. She offers him some red wine but he turns down the offer and asks for tea instead. They stay silent for a few minutes wanting to say much but not knowing how to say it. He silence is broken when Sachiko comes to the living room with concern and says,

"Sani, why are their two older boys sleeping in Kiara's room?" Teru looks at her face and sees the name Sachiko Yagami above her head.

"Auntie, they're her brothers. You don't have to worry about any funny business. They'll be gone in the morning." She says with a smile.

"Ok, just making sure you know because she is at the age now where boys like to sneak into girl's rooms at night. I'll tell them to sleep in the guest room, anyways." She kisses her goodnight on the forehead and heads upstairs. Teru strokes his temples with his pointer and middle fingers and laughs to himself.

"What's so funny?"

"See, I told you all those years ago that she'd be a handful. You still haven't changed...your aunt is still raising your child."

"And you continue to judge me without knowing my situation, my family, my past. You always shared yours but you never asked me about mine. Honestly I never wanted to talk about it, but now I really need to."

"Well, I'm here. You said you wanted to talk." He leans forward and stares her straight in the eyes with open ears. She takes a deep breath.

"I was lucky that my father's side of the family even accepted me when my father denied me. I grew up in an orphanage my paternal grandfather owned, but he was gone most of the time since he ran so many of them. My family was orphans like I; Kiara's father, those two boys upstairs, friends I grew up with and other orphans I helped raise as a teenager.

I was lucky my mother's brother, Soichiro let me stay with his family and his wife helped raise Kiara while I was in school…I was lucky that the same orphanage that raised me helped raise her too. Sachiko and my children are all I have left and I, her children and mine are all she has left. So many of our loved ones have died: murdered, committed suicide or are just mentally not there anymore because of the lives we live, the jobs we have, the duties we want to fulfill…we all put ourselves in harm's way believing that we can better the world by being cops and investigators and lawyers..." She walks over to Teru. She sits next to him and takes his hands. "I know Kira, Teru. Your God is nothing more than a man with too much power, too much smarts and too much ambition." She holds his hands tight and doesn't take her eyes off his. He smiles and his eyes light up at a thought,

"You know God?! Do you not see that we were meant to meet today? He brought us together after all these years. Kira has given me his gift. Soon, everyone will be out of his way, including L and his "SPK" agents. They will all die in a couple days and I will play my part. Please, Sani we can help Kira build a better future together. Don't you want Kiara to grow up in a world that's at peace? Don't let your loved ones die in vain either. Delete those make this world rotten." Sani lets go of his hands and puts hers on his face.

"Teru, Kira killed them-my grandfather, my fiancé, my uncle, my friends…my cousin; he killed those who trusted him with their lives, people who loved him, people who fought the same fight he did. Kira is a murderer, a serial killer, a manipulator-a corrupted soul. I know I fueled your emotions towards Kira and encouraged you to get his attention, but I don't want you to die believing in a man who's a walking contradiction. If I can't save him I at least want to save you." Teru turns his face away from her and removes her hands.

"The 28th will be judgment day. If Kira prevails then he is righteous. If he fails then…" She pulls his chin to make his face-face hers, but he stands up and begins to walk around the room. His voice becomes manic as he rants.

"No, Kira will not cease to amaze. Evil will be deleted for I will carry out his will; the world will be a place where people with pure hearts will live a life of peace and anyone who disturbs that peace will pay the price to keep it-death. Kira is the real God- for God has the power to take away the life of a person he so chooses if he sees it as a threat to the lives of the innocent." With crazy eyes he looks at Sani. "Do you not see, Sani? Those who try to capture God and his power are a threat and they will fail because God is supreme! They all will be deleted. I suggest you don't follow down the path your relatives have taken…"

His voice calms down as his attention is drawn to a photo of a young boy with Sani and an older girl that sits in a frame on the mantle of the fireplace.

"Who's the boy in the picture?" He says as he sees himself at that age.

"My, son." She replies slowly trying to figure out why his demeanor changed so suddenly. With his shinigami eyes, he sees the name Taro Yagami above the boys head and Kiara Lawliet above the girl's. He looks back at Sani to see the name Sani Wammy above hers. Despite looking like him he doubts that the boy is his son. But he asks anyways,

"I see. Is he my son?" He picks up the picture frame.

"Does he look like you?" She folds her arms and crosses her legs.

"So, there was someone else." He sets it back down.

"If that's what you want to believe."

"How old is he?"

"He will turn three in a few months." She gets up and walks over to the window beside the front door.

"Ah, so that's it. You were pregnant then. But I still feel the same. I have no intensions on raising any children." Teru walks to the door and opens it slowly, "So which is it, Yagami, Lawliet, Wammy or something else? What is your real name?" By the time he is done finishing his questions he is outside and Sani is at the door.

"Lawliet." She slams the door in his face. Yet again, they leave their conversation off on a bad note, but they did say all they wanted to say even if the truth wasn't accepted.

Teru walks down the street to his apartment building. Ryuk is following behind him. Ryuk recognizes Sani as the girl in a picture that Light had on his desk when they first met, but he doesn't inform Teru. Ryuk knows that the 28th will be an interesting day when all the player meet face-to-face. He hopes Light will prevail to ease his boredom longer.

"Tell me, Shinigami, for women what last name do I see; maiden or married?"

"Whatever last name they accept. If they are married or widowed, they can choose their birth last name or their spouses'. Engaged or single it is their legal last name. For children and men, it is their legal last name."

He thinks to himself: Sani Wammy. Yagami must be her maiden last name from her mother and Lawliet must be the last name of her dead fiancé. That would mean that she engaged or married to a man with the last name Wammy who could be Taro's father-the man she cheated on him with. With the possibility of her being unfaithful, Mikami isn't sure what to believe. But, he doesn't know what her father's last name was which could be Wammy making Taro his son. No matter- she knew that he didn't want to have a child and doesn't plan on making him a part of his life and if Taro is his son he can blame Sani for Taro not having his father around since she kept him a secret.

He heads back to his empty apartment and changes into a t-shirt and pajama pants. He goes to his closet where he takes out an old shoebox filled with pictures and things from a time when Sani and Teru were together and things she sent him after they broke up. He stares at a picture of Sani looking at a sunset on the beach from 2009. Looking closely at it, the wind blowing against her body is making her dress reveal a slight baby bump. In 2010, she sent him a postcard that had baby foot prints on it with a date and time but no name. He digs deeper into the box to find a picture of Kiara on her first day of middle school that Sani sent him in 2011. Sayu, Light and Sani are in the picture with her. The last thing he takes out is a screenshot of Teru on TV at a Kira debate in which Kiyomi Takada was a judge.

He found it to be no surprise that Kira also granted her the power being a fellow Kira worshiper. He thought about dating her but Light beat him to it; he actually heard "God's" voice for the first time when Takada and Light were getting reacquainted-well tried to but he was under surveillance willingly.

Light always had something set up in his favor. At this meeting with Kiyomi, he convinced the team to let him try to convince her to help them catch Kira, but what he was really doing is setting up meeting in which he could give his commands to her and Mikami. Teru puts the photos back into the shoebox, checks the death note for tampering then goes to bed.

the city of Alexandria, Egypt Stephan meets up with Kiara and Mogi after confirming that Lucca and Taro arrived at headquarters safely. The city of Alexandria is the second largest city in Egypt and an important port city handling a major amount of Egypt's imports and exports. Industrially, they harbor natural gas and oil pipelines from Suez to be passed onto Cairo, the capital of Egypt. Founded by Alexander the Great of Macedon Greece thousands of years ago and home to the Library of Alexandria, one of the seven wonders of the Middle Ages and one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, The Necropolis and the Lighthouse of Alexandria, this city has a long history rich in conflict, wealth, controversy, art and architecture making it a must-see tourist destination. Just like with San Paolo, Cancun and Sydney with so many people coming and going it will be difficult to track down who has the death note. However, unlike the previous investigations, the presence of the death note is well known and centralized around one group of people-the city's government. The crusades through Africa started here and are expanding their reach further every day.

Kiara contacts one of her childhood friends from Wammy's House that works at the main port on an oil rig. Kimi Kahlo has witnessed some of her co-workers go missing or killed in freak accidents. Many of their export ships of oil have been delayed or stopped due to the deaths. Not only has the export of oil gone down in Egypt but also in other countries who export much oil.

"At first, it looked like the Egyptian government wanted to wipe out the competition with the crusades through Africa and the recent invasion of the Middle East, but it seems whoever has this death note wants to kill anyone in the oil trading business-workers and government officials included." Kimi hands Stephan a list of names she gathered of people who have been killed so far and those who maybe next.

"The names that aren't crossed off are the top people in the oil, natural gas, coal, mining, and lumber industries in many countries, including Egypt. Why kill the workers and government officials and not the heads?" Stephan wonders.

"The governments are allowing the exploitation of natural resources while the workers are enabling the transportation." She explains.

"Easier to make the heads back down with the threat of being killed next," Mogi concludes.

"Allowing Egypt to advance with their plan. So whoever has the death note is letting part of the government build an African army to reform the Middle East while also allowing that part of the government prevent the exportation and extraction of natural resources abroad,"

"And they believe that they will wipe out all the competition and take over the Middle East and Africa." A man overhears their conversation. He has a toothpick in his mouth and a cigarette behind his ear, black hair with sideburns, a maroon button-up shirt that mostly unbuttoned exposing his cleanly shaven chest, tight light brown pants, dark brown sandals and fiery brown eyes. He lights his cigarette.

"Sah Rava, this is my friend Kiara and her teammates, Mogi and Stephan. L sent them to find the death note here. Everyone, this is my boyfriend. He's been helping me gather information. He was on one of the ships that blew up and survived."

"Yeah, so if anyone asks about me, I am dead, got it." He points his lit cigarette at Stephan in his personal face space.

"Got it." He snatches his cigarette and tosses it into the harbor. "And I just saved your life, again. Three strikes and you're out."

"Don't you know cats have nine lives?" He takes out another cigarette and put it behind his ear.

"Well, let's head to my place and we can look into the people whose names are not crossed out: Kira may be one of them." Kimi clocks out for the day early.

At her home, she changes into more comfortable clothes and by comfortable for the dry heat of Egypt means a black see-through dress with her lingerie completely visible and a matching headdress with gold trimming.

"For a moment there I thought you were Muslim but that is far from trying to cover yourself up." Mogi states.

"I am Muslim, just not traditional. I'll cover up in public but it's too hot in my home to wear the 'proper attire' all day. Besides, Sah needs a little eye candy sometimes." She says as she bends behind Sah and rubs his chest as he uses her chest as a headrest.

"Anyway, I was looking into the names on this list and one caught my attention; Isiah King. I kept digging into his records but something isn't right, they seem forged. It says he is the executive head of the Alexandria Chamber of Commerce, but when I look for the name of the previous one it is a different one, Darius Ptolemy and it says he is still in office. I can't find a picture of either anywhere which is understandable, but both names also appear on the Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency website as top-ranking officials." Kiara tells them.

"Interesting…so whoever these people are control both aspects of dealing with the environment and the profits from it. They may be a good starting point if this Kira is working closely with them. We just need to find out if one or both is using an alias or not and if they are who they says they are, because they may be the same person." Stephan looks at a map to figure out where the chamber of commerce is but Sah throws his lit cigarette on it and it catches on fire.

"See, that's when you get caught. You need to stumble upon the place and make up a plan as you go. This is one of the most highly guarded buildings in the city; you have to go there with no intentions-nothing to give yourself away." Sah gets off the couch, put his sandals back on and heads to the door as Stephan stomps out the fire. "Follow me, amateurs." Kimi giggles at them as she changes into a black and yellow silk robe that matches her hair and ties it close with a gold belt. She lets her hair hang loosely down under her headdress that she uses to cover her face all but her eyes. Mogi and Stephan stare at each other not sure if they should follow him of ditch him, but Kimi and Kiara drag them out the house telling them to cover their faces.

As they walk through the streets they feel anything but safe. The people openly carry huge firearms and ride through the streets in packs; males of all ages above six. Women, girls and younger boys hide inside their houses most of the day while some brave ones will venture to the market to get food and the mall to stock up on supplies. Kiara walk between Mogi and Stephan while Kimi is sandwiched between Stephan and Sah. They avoid open areas to dodge gunfire that might break out as the evening progresses. Since the death notes are with Stephan, Belphagor hangs around him so he can spot a shinigami when he sees one. Not before long, he finds himself hiding behind a building; peaking around it to see a shinigami walking among a crowd of people that can't see it. He doesn't recognize the shinigami, but he knows she is looking for something. She heads inside a museum that is closed for the day and Belphagor follows her. Inside she examines a case of jewelry from an ancient Egyptian queen, Neferatari. She was the main spouse of Ramses II or Ramses the Great who in popular culture is believed to be the pharaoh Moses freed the Israelites from.

She reaches into the glass case and removes her crown and places it on her head but being too heavy she puts it back and grabs her gold royal necklace instead which has some weight to it too. She lets out a laugh-one that sounds very goofy- not like a shinigami snicker. Belphagor doesn't know what type of human style she is going for because most of her clothes and jewelry she is wearing is more Asian inspired than Egyptian. He also thinks that he's been in the human world too long to start thinking about such things. She leaves the museum when she hears a human approaching with a flashlight looking for the light switch-she hates bright places. She flies to the roof and over the city back to her companion. Belphagor follows her by flying along the ground as Stephan and the rest try to keep up by foot on the rooftops in an older part of the city where houses are still no more than two or three stories.

The shinigami leads them to a nice house in a middle class neighborhood. A gate surrounds the property but there is no one guarding the residence. Stephan instructs Kiara and Mogi to wait outside at the front and back entrances while he heads inside with Sah and Kimi. Belphagor looks in one of the windows to the living room with Stephan. Inside, the shinigami shows the necklace to the man who places his hand on her face and tells her,  
"It looks beautiful on you. Soon, we can find all the metal accessories you want once we have control over Africa and the Middle East. Soon, the countries with too much power will destroy each other and we will be all that's left-Africa, Middle East, South America and small islands everywhere. We will create a new world-a new world order where we won't have to fight to get what we want but work together to keep what we need." He rubs the death note, opens it and begins to write down names. Seeing this, Stephan, Kimi and Sah barge in. Stephan draws out the death note, while Kimi pulls a gun from its holder on her leg and Sah draws a sword its sheath on his back. The shinigami looks at them and has her death note ready seeing that all of their names and lifespans are visible above their heads.

"Drop the death note and come quietly so no one has to die here." Stephan demands. The man holds us a poison dart at Kimi and Sah.

"I bet my reflexes are faster than yours. Tell me, how long does it take for a person to die from snake poisoning…of course that depends on how venomous the snake is and how much it injects."

Daril Ghiroza is a rank three shinigami who is highly intelligent and loves to kill. She enjoys gambling and admires the many jewelry pieces Armonia Justin Beyondormason-rank two shinigami- adorns his body with. Initially having little interest in the human world, she becomes curious as more shinigami go there. When she arrived, she was attracted to Egypt for the ancient wonders it possesses that remind her of Justin's appearance. Finding a human who is a collector of rare ancient artifacts- many being made of metals, she decides to give him the death note in exchange for all his metal accessories to bring some back to Justin so she can use his jewels to make unique accessories. When she does, Justin doesn't want her gifts and doesn't want to give up his jewels and shoos her away. Devastated, she returns to the human world where the man promises to find her rare jewels so she can be more extravagant than Justin. She won't let anything happen to her human man.

"You write his name down and I shall kill you and your friends." Sah keeps his Khopesh-a sickle-sword- pointed at Ismael, while Kimi receives a text from Kiara giving them the go ahead with their plan. Kimi took a picture of Ismael, sent it to Kiara who sent it to Taro for Lucca to tell them his name. Through the tiny earphone in Stephan's ear, she tells him the man's name.

"I guess we will have to find out." Sah waves him on.

"We shall kill you first, Ismael King!" Stephan says the magic words. He writes down Ismael's name in the death note from Brazil as Kiara writes down the same name in the death note from Mexico and Mogi writes down the same name in the death note from Taro. He throws the darts at Kimi who dodges it and Sah who cuts it in half.

"Stephan, it's yours now!" Kiara says to Belphagor who changes ownership back to him.

Before sending Taro and Lucca to Tokyo, Lucca gave Stephan ownership of the death note from Brazil. Knowing that the shinigami might try to kill him, Kiara or Mogi, he told Belphagor that he will relinquish ownership to Kiara for the time being. A shinigami can't kill the owner of the death note be they the original or temporary owner. Furthermore, if a person's name is written in three death notes within 0.06seconds of each other, the person will not die, using this rule to provoke Daril into trying to kill Stephan who now has ownership of the death note again.

Daril finishes writing down Stephan's name seconds after she gained ownership and it is ineffective. Belphagor appears behind Daril and grabs her death note. His eyes are bright red; all of his sharp teeth are showing for he smiles contently.

"It's mine now." Belphagor has lost control off his hand and writes down Daril's name in her death note. The King of Death has compelled Belphagor to kill Daril for him since she tried killing a human who owns a death note. Her death was rather different than just turning to sand. Her articles of clothing and jewelry decayed as her bones dismantled and her eyes turned black. A strange vortex came bursting through the ceiling and sends her remains swirling into a portal that appeared in the sky above them. From it a chain extends and pierces the abandoned shinigami eyes and the death note in Belphagor's hand as well as the other shinigami death notes in their possession taking them back to the shinigami realm. The death notes that remain are the ones the humans own. The humans get a glimpse of the shinigami realm and their king.

In those ten seconds, they can feel the immense power he holds and can't comprehend the magnitude of his being. As the vortex disappears and the portal closes, Belphagor's eyes go black again. Stephan quickly takes the death note from Ismael while Mogi and Kiara rush in the house. Mogi handcuffs Ismael as Sah collapses to the ground with his hand on his chest. Kimi rushes over to him to see what's wrong.

"It hurts…more than the scar from the explosion." Kimi rips open his shirt to see if the poison dart Ismael threw at him made contact but she doesn't see a mark on his chest or back. A huge scar covers most of his back with evidence of a weak attempt at stitching it up. The stiches are coming out and he begins to bleed through his shirt. Cutting the dart in half caused some of the poison to land on his body-seeping into his open wounds.

"No, hang in there!" She grips his shirt tight.

"Stephan… you were right… three strikes…and…" His eyes close as his face falls over sideways. Kimi shakes him as if she was trying to get him to wake up. Kiara wraps her arms around her arms and chest until she lies down and cries on Sah's chest. Stephan shakes down Ismael asking him what anti-venom he needs, but he tells them that there is none and he's already dead.

A couple days before Sah's funeral, Stephan contacts L to tell him they have another death note in their possession and tells him that he is sending them back with Mogi while Kiara and he help Kimi with the funeral. With only one left to confiscate, Near asks all of them to return to Tokyo so they can tackle North Korea together. Aizawa, Ide, Yamamoto and Halle are having a difficult time trying to find that death note and the situation is growing more dangerous by the minute. North Korea knows that the United States and Australia don't have a death note and are planning to launch a missile in a couple days- the start of World War III. The United States is ready to drop a bomb on North Korea that is twice as strong as the ones they dropped on Nagasaki and Hiroshima. Armies are mobilizing and weapons are being disrupted to allies all over the world and are picking sides already while some try to stay out of harm's way-foreigners fleeing enemy countries. Stephan and Kiara immediately rush back to Tokyo after the funeral, bringing Kimi and Ismael with them and asking P to join them as well. All together again they sit around a circular table L has set up in the main computer room; L, Kiara, Sani, Stephan, Mogi, Yamamoto, Matsuda, Carter, Halle, Aizawa, Ide, P and Kimi discuss their plan of attack while concern has also arise with the disappearance of the death notes Stephan had sent L and the disappearance of Taro and Lucca.

**Worshipers**

A week earlier, Taro and Lucca arrived in Tokyo late at night. Lucca doesn't know who to look for and Taro doesn't see anyone he recognizes. As they make their way to the baggage claim Lucca can feel someone following them; at first thinking it was someone on their flight but even when they get lost and take a potty break-he lurks. The man has his face concealed by sunglasses and a hoodie and walks closely behind them switching between groups of travelers. Taro is aware of their stalker and keeps him in sight as they make it to their destination. Time goes by and they still haven't seen their bag; more and more people leave the area and the stalker gets closer and closer.

Sani and Carter stand outside the baggage claim area next to a limo; Carter is on the phone with his wife while Sani looks at the exit waiting for the boys to come out. Twenty minutes pass since their flight landed and Sani heads inside wondering where they are. At the conveyer belt they see the boys arguing with a man who's trying to take their suitcase. Everyone else has left the area; Sani told Near it would be a bad idea for them to fly in so late at night. Sani rushes over to confront the man and hears what they are arguing about,

"What is a death note?" Taro denies knowing about it existence.

"I know you have it with you! I saw you take it from that woman in Brazil." The man tugs at the suitcase but Taro and Lucca's grip is tight.

"You have us confused with someone else!" Lucca jams the suitcase into his crotch area and the man falls back and his hood falls down but doesn't let go.

"You kids shouldn't possess such a thing…you're too immature to understand its power!" He shoves the suitcase back at him and Taro with much more force sending them flying backwards. Letting go of the suitcase the man cradles it.

"Give us back our things before you become a victim of this power." Lucca fiddles with a paper clipping from the death note he keeps in his pant pocket. Even with the man having his eyes covered enough of his face is exposed to see the man's name and lifespan.

"Leave those boys alone!" Carter walks in the airport to see Sani kick the man from behind to the ground; she learned L's capoeirastyle of fighting too. He falls in agony dropping the suitcase and placing his hand on his spine.

"What the hell? Who are you?" She grabs him by the collar,

"Don't mess with my children asshole." She punches him and he is knocked out instantly.

"I'm going to have to call you back, dear." Carter knows that man will have a couple bruises showing up soon.

"Are you two, okay?" She holds out her hands to them offering to help them get up. Taro slaps it away as Lucca lets go of the paper in his pocket.

"We're fine." Taro wipes off his clothes and grabs the suitcase.

"Are you sure? He looks like he's seen a ghost." Lucca stares at Sani, at her face and name. Her name he recognizes but her face he does not. Taro shakes him out of it as Carter calls a bus for the man and the airport security gives them the okay to leave. He grabs their luggage and takes it to the limo while Sani and the boys follow. When Sani opens the door Taro and Lucca see a man sitting on the opposite end, not on the seat but on the floor.

Hesmiles at the boys; he hasn't seen Taro since he was three and is curious about the boy with the shinigami eyes. None say a word as they make their way to headquarters besides Carter who continues his conversation with his wife on the phone. At headquarters, Yamamoto shows the boys to their room and they immediately fall asleep when their heads hit the pillows. Sani comes into their room and watches Taro sleep for a while; she strokes his head as he smiles in his sleep. She looks at Lucca whose face she has seen before.

In the morning, Taro wakes up to see that Lucca is sitting on his bed playing computer games on a laptop Yamamoto lent him. An arm lies across his arm and he can feel hair touching that shoulder. Taro turns around to see his mother sleeping next to him and slides away from her as she gets out of bed. He throws his pillow at her to wake her up so she can leave. She opens her eyes, yawns and begins to stretch out.

"Get out of our room!" He demands. She sits up and puts her hair behind her ears.

"Taro, I haven't seen you or heard your voice in months."

"And?"

"Why have you been acting so distant lately? Are you mad at me for moving you to Mantua? Are you mad that I'm working far away?"

"I'm just mad at you-nothing more and nothing less."

"You have to be mad at me for a reason, what did I do, Taro?" He takes a deep breath; both Lucca and Sani can feel his irritability.

"You know what you did, if I have to tell you…then my hate for you is justifiable." He walks out the room with his towel and heads to the bathroom, slamming the door behind him. Sani think to herself what it could be, but then again it can be cumulative. She turns to Lucca,

"You're his friend, has he told you what's bothering him?" He scoffs and closes the laptop.

"You're his mother, you should know. All I know is that he's lucky to have a parent that still alive." Sani sits on the end of Lucca's bed

"What happened to yours?"

"They were murdered and I got stuck with a sad excuse of a human-my aunt who only made my life a living hell."

"I'm sorry to hear that…your story reminds me of a man I once knew. His wife turned ex was brutally murdered and he was accused of killing her, but he didn't. Kira didn't see that and killed him. He had a young son who I left with his aunt and uncle in Milan. I always wonder what happened to that boy." Someone knocks on the door and asks if Sani is in the room. She leaves the room to see that Near needs help with making breakfast since he doesn't trust Yamamoto and Carter left to meet with his family who is in the city. Lucca opens the laptop and on the screen is the case of Micca Abandonato from 2012. He finally has a face to the name, Sani Wammy.

A few days later, Near, Yamamoto, Carter and Sani learn about the connection between the people with the death notes from Juliana Guisy. Initially, the owners didn't want to work with each other until the syndicates revealed their locations to each other. Knowing each of their goals, they decided to work together to keep the world in a constant state of paranoia to weed out the people they truly couldn't reform. They targeted animal, food and environmental abusers so they can try to save and maybe even reverse the damage they have done to have something to survive off of when "The Time" comes. This time is soon when Korea will make their big move. Human populations will be greatly reduced and whatever is left on the earth will be their means of survival.

"We will start over from the very beginning, before governments and countries, before religion and walled cities. We will regulate the human population to keep us and Earth alive longer. If God can't do it- then we will." Juliana proudly states.

"Creating a perfect world with people only a few deem to be worthy…sounds like a recipe for disaster. I hope you manage to kill them all before World War III begins." Yamamoto feels.

"War does not give two damns or a fuck about the person you are-anyone in the line of fire will die! Do you really think you will make it out alive to see 'The New World'?" Sani says to bring Juliana to reality.

"Time does not give two dams or a fuck about humans-it will continue on with or without us. Anything you do now will not change the path our world is heading down unless you can stop North Korea. Tell me, what is their plan?" L asks with his most serious face to date.

Suddenly, they receive an alert from Mogi about his team closing in on another death note owner. Carter and Yamamoto search for any information on the man by scanning a picture of his face through a special database. Taro receives a text message from Kiara; it is the face of the man with the death note. Stephan told her that Lucca has the shinigami eyes. He calls Lucca over to get his name.

"Ismael King." Lucca tells him and Taro texts Kiara the name. Not long after, Mogi confirms that they have the death note. Sani is baffled, wondering how they found out his real name before Yamamoto or Carter told them.

"Lucca Pope or whatever his name is has the eyes, Sani. He was born with them." Ryuk tells her as she trembles with fear from him not warning her of his presence. Sani thinks about Micca Abandonato who also had the eyes and who had a son who she left in Milan with his aunt and uncle; a boy who would be Taro's age now. She remembers him telling her his son's name, Popei Abandonato…Lucca Pope.

"Whatever his name is…what name do you see, Ryuk? Popei Abandonato?"

"Close…Lucca Popei Abandonato."

Sani is glad to see that he is turning out fine despite who is raising him. She is also glad that Taro and him are friends and hopes to make Lucca another one of her un-biological sons feeling responsible for him since she couldn't save his father. She looks on as Near talks to Lucca about his power and his and Taro's intentions with the death note they received. They lie of course saying that they wanted to burn it before Belphagor informed them of the other death notes. Near knows they are lying but doesn't let it show. He only hopes that when the time comes, they will hand over the death notes without any problems.

A couple days later, Near receives the death notes Stephan sent him with Mogi being their escort. He stores them in a safe in a room right next to the boys room. He makes Sani, Taro and Lucca enter in a three digit code only known to them to lock the safe; the safe can only be open if all three of them put the codes in the right order. Should someone try to steal them, they only have one chance before the room is locked down and sleeping gas fills it. Lucca does not see this as a problem since they know six of the nine digits. That night they enter the room and brainstorm the numbers Sani could have chosen. They think of birthdays and holidays, anniversaries, anything and everything. Taro picks the numbers: 4-7-8 for Kira, a supposedly lucky number, and an upright infinity while Lucca picked the number: 6-6-6. Taro studies the numbers from all angles and finally feels he knows the numbers she chose. He keys in the code: closes his eyes and hold his breath anticipating the alarm to sound and the gas to invade their air, but the safe dings and the door pops open.

"1-2-3?"

"Yes, they are letters if you look at them from different orientations; 1-an upside down L, 2-a sideways fancy N and 3-a sideways lowercase m. L for well L, N for Near and M for Mello or Matt. She's too predictable." Taro explains.

"Or she was just really lazy with picking numbers." Lucca laughs and grabs the notebooks and puts them in his backpack. "You ready? We need to be as far away from here as we can and find people who will help us get the last death note before they do."

"Right, let's go. I heard that there is a big following of Kira in Tokyo since it all started here."

They make their way out of the city towards Mt. Fuji. When morning comes, they stop to get food and camping supplies. As they are shopping they overhear a man talking to a family about the candlelight visual tonight on Mt. Fuji for Kira. He hands them a flyer giving them the location and time on the back. Lucca gets a flyer from the man.

"Looks like we are going here tonight; we just need to lay low today."

"We need to make sure Near won't find us at this ceremony either. I'm sure he'd know we would go."

That night, in the distance they can see little lights moving up the mountainside, many little lights that move in a single file line. A huge gathering of Kira worshipers have come to pray for his protection. They all wear black cloaks and carry a single candle. Lucca and Taro feel safe among the crowd knowing that even Near would find it hard to find them, especially with everyone being hardly visible.

In the crowd there are people of all ages and nationalities who have come to Japan just for this one night; babies are held by their mothers, children walk closely beside their parents, the elderly are escorted by a younger adult while young couples hold each other close. Lucca never imagined that a mass of this size would be allowed to gather without the police being present, but then again even some officers are participating. Taro and Lucca make their way to the front as they see the single file line forming into a circle and leave a path down the middle open. Moments later, asingle person walks down the middle of the aisle wearing a white cloak and carrying one candle.

Her light shines like a star and it is the brightest. The boys can see that it is a woman. She approaches a man who stands in the middle of the circle who takes her candle. The crowd is silent except the few babies that are upset. The man speaks,

"Let us pray together my sisters and brothers." Everyone lowers their heads and close their eyes.

"Kira, our savior we have gathered here tonight like we do every year for our prayers to be heard. For years we thought you had left us as the world began to decay again, but now we see you were waiting-waiting to see who would stay loyal and faithful to you. Judgment day is coming and we only pray that you protect us from the path of destruction. We will forever be the light that shines for the world you want to see and strive to make mankind the model citizens I know we can be. Kira, our savior, bless our children with a brighter future; show them the right way to live and be kind when the day comes to die.

"Long shall ye reign, our savior." The woman finishes with.

"Long shall ye reign!" The crowd shouts back. One by one the followers hand the reverend their candle and he blesses them. When Lucca gets close enough he can see the man's name, Solomon Divine and the woman's name, Sarah Divine. He blesses them and they head down the mountain to the feast.

As they make their way down the mountain, some other children start conversations with them. Three of them are older while one is closer to their age.

"So where are you all from?" The young girl with the bright pink hair asks them. Her name is Serenity Seung.

"I'm from Zambia, that's in Africa." The teenage girl with the pigtails says. Her name is Lumuka Maidstone.

"We are from Mantua, that's in Italy." Taro replies for the both of them.

"I'm from Athens in Greece." The teenage boy tells them. His name is Dion Nikias.

"Live right here in Tokyo, but I am German." The other teenage boy with the black and red hair informs. His name is Axel Friedrich.

"My mom and I live in Korea, South Korea but my father is from North." Serenity reveals. Lucca smiles at the thought of having a means of getting to Korea. He hangs around her during the rest of their walk and manages to sit with her and her mother at the feast. With their food on plates and no clear tables to sit at, the followers sit in circles around camp fires. At their camp fire the reverend and his wife sit with them.

"It brings me joy to see so many young faces." Reverend Solomon tells them.

"I am glad to see this many people believe in Kira and his mission." Serenity's mother**, **Sun Seung is surprised to see so many people.

"Yes, even with Kira's disappearance for seven years the gathering has grown every year. Our savior, Kira must hve decided that there was enough of us who truly want a world of good to continue his plan from years ago."

"Or they are just scared of the lingering threat of war and the death that comes with it." Lucca says out loud.

"And what do you know about Kira and his mercy, son?" Sarah asks.

"Hmph, he has none." Lucca gets up and walks away as Taro follows him. Serenity goes to find the boys intrigued about their knowledge of Kira.

"What if I told you, I know Kira?" Lucca says to her.

"I would do whatever I can to help him." She smiles.

"Good, because he needs your assistance; Taro is Kira. Your savior chose him to carry out his will but there are those who stand in our way. We need to get to North Korea, can you help us with that?" He shows her the death notes with all the names they have written; she already knows what it is.

"Yes, I will help you two before things get out of hand. I'll tell my mom to get extra plane tickets." She kisses them both on their cheek and hurries to tell her mother.

The next day, they are on their way to North Korea with Serenity and her mother who have fallen asleep in their seats across the aisle. Lucca takes out the death note Belphagor gave Taro.

"Belphagor chose us to rule this world in life and death. We need to eliminate all who know of the death notes and where they are. None shall know about us." Lucca writes down names;

"Kido Namikawa death by car accident, Reverend Solomon Divine tormented to death by his wife, Sarah Divine."

The man who tried to steal their luggage when they arrived to Tokyo is hit by a bus when he runs a red light. Sarah nails her husband through the hands, feet and stomach to a wooden cross on the mountain side facing the ocean. She gathers wood and places it around his feet before setting him on fire- burning him alive. Shortly after, she dies of a heart attack since her name was also written in the death note with no instructions given to how she will die.

"Femi Lekan death by drowning, Akira Hitomu death by suicide, Gabriella Lopez death by electrocution,"

The African fisherman ties a barrel to his legs and rolls into the water; the weight of the barrel keeps him submerged and he drowns. The Japanese immigrant who owns the noodle shop stabs himself in the neck with the butcher knife while cutting up meat for a customer. The Brazilian woman who runs a beauty salon throws all her electrical equipment on the floor. She electrocutes herself when she breaks the fish tank in her shop flooding the floor where all her hair dryers, flat irons, TV and radio sit.

"Phillip Moinsseau, Kimi Kahlo,"

At the round table, P and Kimi Kahlo fall out of their seats head first to the ground moments after the other. Kiara rushes over to them and confirms that they are dead from heart attacks. Everyone looks around the room to see who is next. They hear a screams down the hall.

"Alejandro Rivera, Juliana Guisy, Ismael King,"

Near and Sani rush to the room they are holding the ex-owners in. Opening the door, each of them lay dead on the floor with eyes open having suffered from heart attacks. Ryuk can see all their lifespans fluctuating with each death not knowing if they are being lengthen or shortened because they won't settle on a number.

"Ryuk, stop them! Please! Write down their names!" Kiara pleads. He is reminded of Light when he asked him to do the same thing; asking Ryuk to kill those trying to arrest him when Near beat him at his own game. Light killed Takada and Mikami had already been apprehended while Misa had no memories of being the second Kira so she was not there they day Light died; no one was there to kill for him anymore. Like then he refuses.

"I can't do that."

"Then let me, give me your death note."

"A human must never write in a shinigami's personal death note. If you did I would die." His eyes are bright red having unintentional excitement for all the deaths going on but deep down he is mad at the king for allowing Belphagor to stay in the human world for this long. He knows the King didn't give him the whole story when he sent him here-something is preventing him from just killing Belphagor and Ryuk is determined to figure it out.

"Halle Bullock, Anthony Carter, Hideki Ide, Kanzo Mogi, Shou Yamamoto,"

Halle and Anthony fall onto each other as they hold their chests gasping for air in agony. Aizawa catches Ide before he hits the ground as Mogi falls on top of him. Kiara pulls Mogi's lifeless body off Aizawa. Matsuda sees Yamamoto fall over next to Near. Near is pissed, he never anticipated Taro to kill his agents and he underestimated how dangerous he and Lucca are. He waits for a heart attack to end his life like the L before him-failing to defeat Kira like the L before him.

Sani holds onto Near and Kiara as Aizawa, Matsuda and Stephan cry over the bodies of their best friends, their comrades- their family. Minutes pass and they are still alive.

"That's it for now, Lucca. I still don't know what to do with the rest."

"I understand you wanting to keep your family alive, but why keep Aizawa and Matsuda alive?"

"They have young children. I am sensitive to that." Taro takes the death note from him and puts it back in his bag.

"I guess I'll let you decide how you want to kill your family. I already killed my aunt and her boyfriend weeks ago along with all the bastards on my mother's side of the family…I'm the only one left. Don't get empathetic on me now; this world deserves no empathy or sympathy, Taro." He curls up in his seat and goes to sleep feeling highly accomplished. Taro cries himself to sleep, feeling trapped in an endless cycle of deceit and death. Taro tells himself that after they get the last death note he will kill Lucca and hopes he will be forgiven for what he has done- for what he started and now has to finish.

"I have to kill him, Belphagor. It's either him or my family and the fate of mankind. I have to fix this for I am the only Kira left. My father wanted a world of peace where people don't have to fear unnatural deaths and unnecessary violence. He wanted people to live lives that not only better themselves but those around them. Lucca just wants to kill and disposes of human lives without remorse. He toys with people's lives. He is evil and evil must be…deleted."

As Near and the rest decide they are safe, they move the bodies to the living room and cover their bodies in blankets until they know what they should do with the bodies. Aizawa and Matsuda call Shou's, Mogi's and Ide's family while Sani contacts Carter's family and Wammy House telling Rodger to start digging some more plots for fallen family members. Stephan calls Halle's parents and siblings. Kiara holds onto Near tightly as he tries to figure out what to do next. With no death notes it is extremely hard confiscate one when they don't have the treat of having one unless Ryuk wants to use his. They don't know where the boys are but they shouldn't be too hard to find. Near intends on not losing anyone else so he has to be more careful and more strategic when confronting Taro and Lucca.

A call comes in to headquarters. Hesitant to answer, Near does anyways. On the screen a Korean man appears; another contact from Wammy's House.

"Chung-Ho Bae, what information have you gathered in Korea?"

"Not good news at all. North Korea just sent a threat to the United States and its allies saying they will unleash a level four virus- highly deadly. Not only is this man planning on using this virus to kill millions he is also targeting anyone who has a disease or may be a carrier. Many of those with Ebola, Malaria, TB, HIV and AIDS and even those with mental disabilities have been killed already."

**Promise**

Immediately, Near and the rest arrange for the victim's families to retrieve the bodies and begin funeral arrangements while they head to North Korea. Near promises his team that they will not miss any of the funerals and he will avenge their deaths. Flying out on the next flight to South Korea, they arrive in North Korea the next day and meet Chung-Ho Bae.

"We can take down the man now. He is at his penthouse in Pyongyang with his daughter. His name is Shin Kang-Dae."

"Let's do this. This is the last death note. We must get it before Lucca and Taro or I fear we all will die." Near warns them.

At the high-rise where his penthouse is, they make their way to the roof access without detection. Ryuk confirms that the shinigami is not there. Kiara, Stephan and Aizawa scale own the side of the building while Near, Sani and Matsuda watch for a shinigami while Ryuk goes to find it to steal its death note. He finds the shinigami, Midora hanging around a park near a pond. Ryuk finds it hard to figure out where she keeps her death note since she wears no clothes or accessories. He sees Taro and Lucca talking to her with Belphagor. Overhearing their conversation he hears that they are warning her about Near and the others wanting to kill her. Belphagor asks Midora for her death note but she tells him that she left it in the shinigami realm with Justin. Ryuk immediately fly to the shinigami realm to retrieve it before Belphagor does, but he also knows that he wouldn't dare to step foot in the shinigami realm.

Midora is a rank 9 shinigami who's a bit lazy but loves to kill. She likes being near water because she likes humidity and hates how dry heat is present in Pyongyang, which is why she usually doesn't go to Dae's home because it isn't near water. She is a massive shinigami that looks more like an overgrown alligator or crocodile than a skeleton as most shinigami look like.

Ryuk returns with the death note and hands it to Kiara who is in the man's library. On his desk is the death note given to him and records of infectious disease victims-worldwide. Some have check marks next to their names, some have stars and some have X's. Kiara switching his death note with Midora's. From the outside they look the same but Stephan copies the names from Dae's into Midora's. Aizawa wiretaps the room. Taking Dae's they head back to the roof, waiting for him to use it so Midora will be destroyed. Not long after they leave, Shin enters his study and grabs the note book and leaves. From the roof, they follow him using a powerful infrared camera. He goes to his daughter's room; she is resting in her bed with an IV attached to her arm. They can hear their conversation since Chung had put wiretaps an surveillance cameras throughout the house days ago.

"Mina, I will make them pay for this. Airlines are so careless; letting people with deadly diseases on planes, governments using them as a bioweapons…it's disgusting!"

"Father, they will find a cure." The girl drifts off to sleep.

"The only cure we need is the eradication of the viruses and bacteria these people harbor. They all must die." He opens the death note and takes out his "hit list".

"Hmm where to start…Julie Fatima Moskah**,** MRSA infection kills her in 24 hours from midnight. See Mina, it's easy to kill people when they will die soon anyways. All I'm doing is putting them out of their misery sooner."

This man reminds Sani of B, Bran, Beyond Birthday but even worse. B may have staged his victims' deaths but he didn't end their lives sooner than destiny had given them. This man is justifying his actions by believing that he is being merciful. She feels that Light used that justification too, killing criminals who would die in jail anyways, so he felt merciful in hastening their deaths. Ryuk flies to the park to see if Midora is dust.

"Damn, they beat us to it!" Lucca holds the sand that was Midora in his hand. "Now they can kill us if they so choose…do you want to take that risk? We need to get it from them and then kill them. Then, this world will be ours."

"Yeah, we should head back to Japan and finish this where it began." Taro looks around to see Ryuk hovering in the sky and doesn't let Lucca knows he sees him. Lucca takes out a death note,

"Sun Seung, buys two plane tickets to Narita International Airport and gives them to two boys with her daughter at Pyongyang Sunan International Airport. Her daughter, Serenity Seung dies from freight when her mother collapses from a heart attack twenty minutes after the boys' plane arrives in Tokyo." He says as he writes away in the death note. "We must leave no loose ends." Taro is devastated that he is going this far, Serenity is only eight years old. He can't do anything about it-once the name is written it cannot be undone.

Near and his team move in to arrest Shin and take Midora's death note and him back to Japan. He takes out a gun from under his shirt and points it at his head.

"The world order is set. Even if you arrest me there are those who will carry out our will. The syndicates have infiltrated ever country with no indication to who is part of one; everyday people who wait for Kira to begin the world anew. Their numbers run in the millions. Kira's rule is absolute with or without the death note." He pulls the trigger and falls on the IV stand attached to his daughter. Stephan plugs her back in but Aizawa knows she is dead. In the death note he reads:

Mina Kang-Dae dies peacefully in her sleep.

Ryuk returns and informs them that Taro and Lucca are heading back to Tokyo and that they should do the same saying that Lucca will contact them soon wanting the last death note. Near and his team leaves the man and his daughter as is and heads to the airport and back to headquarters. When they arrive a shinigami appears before them with no other death note but his. He allows himself to be seen by Sani, Near, Kiara, Stephan, Matsuda and Aizawa. He is a fairly new shinigami too but the King trusts him far more than Belphagor.

"Teilavhan**,** I thought the King wasn't letting anymore shinigami into the human world."

"He isn't and he didn't send me here."

"Who did?"

"Earth. She wants me and you to destroy Belphagor without the restraint of the King. She broke our chains to him like Belphagor did by himself. He has grown too powerful with taking the energy from the humans lives written in the five death notes the humans possessed and the five the shinigami possessed which contains thousands of years of names. We need to stop him before he destroys humans, shinigami, the King and Earth."

"Finally, I was waiting for this. We need to find these two boys and he is with them. We can take him out then."

"Perfect, let us begin then."

Stephan is able to get in contact with Lucca who demands that they hand over the last death note and he will spare them at Taro's request. Lucca tells them to meet in the warehouse where Light was defeated and where his son will avenge his death- the Yellow Box Warehouse; a warehouse with only one door that is an entrance and exit.

"Sani, Taro is confused. He thinks Light is his father and he knows that Light was Kira. He knows we all played a role in his demise. Even if we give them the death notes I fear Lucca won't hesitate to kill us regardless of how Taro feels. We have to kill Lucca and maybe even Taro too."

"I know, Stephan. I knew it would come to this, just like the first time."

"Lucca killed most of our team, I'm sure of it. He was the one doing most of the killings. It was his handwriting in the death note they received. Taro isn't the smartest kid but I believe he sees how corrupt Lucca has become. I sure he wants Lucca dead as much as we do, unfortunately."

"I couldn't save his father but I can still save my son from his legacy. I pray for my son not to meet the same fate." Sani thinks back to that day.

January 27th, 2013. Sachiko has taken Kiara and Taro with her see Sayu and they stay overnight with her so Sani has the house to herself. She talks to Near on the phone confirming that everything will run smoothly tomorrow. He asks her if she wants to confront Light too and she doesn't, telling him that she will stay home too afraid to see the monster her cousin has become. Near understands and tells her that he will see her in a couple days when everything is dealt with; arresting Kira and Teru, deciding what to do with the death note and keeping its existence a secret while letting the world know that Kira is no more. Sani gets ready for bed as she makes sure all her doors are locked, outside light are turned off and anything that can be unplugged is unplugged. As she puts out the fire in the fireplace in the living room she begins to wonder when this stretch of warm weather will end. When she heads to her bedroom the doorbell sounds. It's ten o'clock and she decides to ignore it, but it rings twice and then three times. Annoyed she looks through the peephole but doesn't see anyone. She looks out the window beside the door and sees someone standing on her porch. She grabs a kitchen knife and slowly opens the door.

When she opens the door, a man in a black shirt smiles at her sensually before grabbing the back of her head; bringing her lips to his, he kisses her roughly. The knife impales his shoulder but he pays it no mind. She tries to push herself away with her free hand by moving into the house but he grabs her wrist and forces her to go inside. He closes the door behind him with his foot and then pins Sani to it. She drops the knife as he kisses her on the neck heading towards her chest. She catches her breath,

"Teru, you're bleeding on me." She moans as he slides his hand under her bra and caresses her chest with one hand while he unbuttons his shirt with the other.

"They are bigger than I remember." He takes his shirt off on one side and leaves it hanging on the arm with the bloody shoulder. She wraps his shirt around his shoulder and applies pressure.

"That's what happens when you have two kids." She lifts her legs off the ground and wraps them around Teru's waist while using the door for support as he unties her robe, unzips his pants and shimmies them down his legs until they are off. He then uses this hand to find his way to the inside of her underwear.

"No, Teru…not there. It…feels too good." Her moaning becomes louder the deeper he goes. Eventually he removes his fingers and lower her so their faces are level; she runs her fingers through his hair and then down the small of in his back pulling his waist closer to hers. They kiss wrapping their tongue around the other as he puts his hands on her butt cheeks. She removes her robe as he carries her to her bedroom; he tossing her onto the bed so he can remove his boxer shorts. Naked, he fixes is glasses on his face and asks,

"Do you want it?"

"You know what I want." He climbs into bed between her legs and slides her panties off with his mouth. She grips them with her fingertips, pulling his head to hers and his waist into her.

"If you love me, Teru then you will come and get me." She tosses her underwear away as Teru thrusts away into the early hours of the morning.

January 28th, 2013. In the morning, he is still there when she wakes up. A streak of dried blood goes from her shoulder to her hips matching the one on Teru's body. She slides out from under him, unties his bloody shirt from around his shoulder that managed to stay wrapped around his arm all night and tosses it in her bathroom sink and looks for gauze, cotton swabs, antibiotic ointment and medical tape. Teru wakes up and puts his boxers back on as he looks for his glasses. Sani laughs as she twirls them in her hand.

"You must have gone to the bathroom at some point. Here," She hands him his glasses. "You should really keep pressure on that wound before it opens up again." She wipes away the dried blood with a rag, soap and water, dries him with her sheets and applies antibiotic ointment to his wound before covering it with cotton swabs, gauze and medical tape. He looks around the room to see little spots of blood on her floor, bed and walls.

"It looks like someone died in here."

"You almost did; you should know better than to creep on a woman's house that late at night, especially when I'm home alone." She heads back to the bathroom to wash her face and brush her teeth. He goes to the living room to retrieve his cellphone from his pant pocket. No messages but he does check the time, 10 o'clock am. He has three hours to get to Yellow-Box Warehouse with the death note. He paces back and forth with anxiousness and anticipation. Noticing the house is really quiet he shouts to Sani from the living room and asks,

"Where are your children? With your aunt?" He returns to her bedroom.

"Yes…are you going? It's the twenty-eight." Teru leans against the window in her room staring at his own reflection.

"Yes. God needs me there, God wants to meet me…God will let the world know his will is absolute." Teru walks to the bathroom door as Sani dries her face with her towel. "Sani, please come to the warehouse with me. I will keep you safe from those who don't see God when he stands before them. I want you with me, by my side as all my dreams become a reality." He hugs her from behind, wrapping his arms around her stomach. He rests his chin on her shoulder and whispers in her ear, "I love you, Sani." She places her hands on the sink and lowers her head. She doesn't want to see Light get arrested or even worse see him die or everyone else die if Near's plan fails. She doesn't want Teru to go, but she also doesn't want him to go into the situation alone. She knows everyone's minds are made up and now she has to make up hers.

"I'm not going anywhere until I shower so I advise you to let me go so I can." She kisses him on his cheek as he releases his hold.

"Yeah, I wouldn't want you to go out in public nude." Sani didn't realize that she never put her bra or underwear back on.

1:00pm. Light arrives to the warehouse with Ide, Aizawa, Matsuda and Ryuk while Near, Mogi, Stephan, Carter and Halle are already inside; Near sits on the ground wearing a mask of L's face. Teru and Sani arrive in the area but don't make their way to the warehouse right away. Its pouring outside and they are immediately soaked.

"Teru, can't we go inside?"  
"No. We need to wait outside." They hide behind a pile of wooden crates for a half-hour or so before he approaches the door. Sani sits against the building behind two barrels to the side of Teru. Teru ever so slightly opens the door and peeks through the small opening to see them all standing there, waiting for something to happen, someone to come, someone to see them-Teru. With one eye, he looks around the room first seeing Near and his real name, Nate River. The last person he sees is Light Yagami whose lifespan is not visible.

"God!" He is elated. Without a second thought he writes down Near's name first and then everyone else's; as he writes the names he says, "Delete" over and over again and with each one his voice becomes more fanatic and his face more manic.

When he finishes writing down the last name, overwhelmed with satisfaction he screams, "DELETE!" as he bends backwards and looks at the sky with a devilish smile. Sani can see that insanity has taken him. She knows he will wait forty seconds before making his presence known, before he meets his God. She can hear someone call to him but their voice is muffled. Teru responds to it,

"Yes, I've written them." Seconds later a quick show of fear shows on his face as Near calls him by his full name and asks him to come in. He jumps to his feet and slides open the door gladly when Light asks him the same. He looks at his watch and begins to count,

"30 seconds, 31,32,33,34,35,36,37,38" His enthusiasm grows again and he closes the door. "39, 40!" Sani runs to the door to hear what is going on.

Everyone is still alive.

"But, why? Why won't they die?!" She hears Mikami scream, "God, I did everything you told me!" She hears Near voice telling Carter and Stephan to take him down and Teru screams as he is handcuffed. Moments later she hears a desperate Light shout,

"It's a trap! This whole thing is a set-up. This is all part of Near's plan to frame me! Isn't it a little odd that no one died after everyone's name was written in the notebook? This proves it's a trap!" She can hear the nervousness in his voice. Near reminds him that he said no one would die.

"No…er…that can't be. This is a set-up, I don't know this guy!" Mikami is devastated that God would deny him, discard all the effort he put into helping him get rid of all those who know about the notebook. He hangs his head with sorrow, defeat and frustration. Aizawa tells Light to give up. Matsuda falls to the ground in disappointment as Mogi moves in to handcuffLight.

"Stop it!" He shoves Mogi away from him before he is handcuffed and runs to the wall, stumbling over his own feet, running from the fear of losing.

"Light Yagami, L, Kira. It's over, you have lost the game." Near declares as Light breathes heavily. Near tells Light how he was able to keep everyone alive, thanking Mello for his sacrifice and Gevanni for his diligence and accuracy. He also reveals that he was able to see Ryuk the whole time. Sani is in speechless seeing that all Near told her was real: the death note, the shinigami and that Light is Kira and most importantly their plan worked and she and him are still alive. She hopes that Near will leave Teru in her care and not in jail.

"I bet that Mello knew in his heart that by working by ourselves, neither of us would be able to obtain out goal and surpass our mentor, L. But together, together we can stand with L! Together we can pass L! And now acting as one we face the Kira that defeated, L and with solid evidence beat him at his own game! Let's see you try to talk your way out of this one if you can." Near holds up finger dolls of him, Mello and L as Light twitches his eye and grinds his teeth-annoyed.

Suddenly he laughs uncontrollably and psychotically. The task force members look at him shocked as they see him unravel before them-his sanity slipping away quickly.

"That's right, I am Kira. And what can you do? Kill me right here? Hear this, I'm not only Kira, I am also God of the new world. Kira has become law in the world we now live. He's the one maintaining order. I have become justice; the only hope for mankind. Huh? Kill me? Is that really the right thing to do? Since Kira's appearance years ago, wars have stopped and global crime rates have been reduced to over 70%. But it's not enough this world is still rotten! And with too many rotten people…somebody has to do this! And when I got that notebook all those years ago I knew I had to do it. No, I was the only one who could. I understood killing people was a crime. There was no other way; the world had to be fixed! A purpose given to me! Only I could do it…who else could have done it and come this far?! Would they have kept going?" He declares as his voice calms down instantly. "The only one who can create a new world is me." He closes his eyes and takes a breath.

"No! You're just a murderer Light Yagami and this notebook is the deadliest weapon of mass murder in the history of mankind. You yielded to the power of the shinigami and the notebook and then confused yourself with a god. In the end you are nothing more than a crazy serial killer. That's all you are; nothing more and nothing less."

Silence fills the room for a couple of minutes before Light asks near if the notebooks he has are real, claiming he only knows where the real one is to distract him as he pulls on a nob on his watch. One, two, three times a small plate opens with a small piece of paper on it from the death note. He starts to write down Near's name, but Matsuda shoots his hand. Blood streams form the wound covering his hand.

"Matsuda, you idiot! Who the hell do you think you're shooting at! Don't screw with me!" He sounds like a demon as his breathing become as erratic as his voice. Matsuda points the gun at him again.

"What was it all for then? What about your dad, what the hell did he die for?"

"My dad? Hahaha, you mean Soichiro Yagami? That's right Matsuda, in this world all these earnest people like him who fight for justice they always lose. Do you want a world where people like that are made to be fools?!" His blood drips on the floor from his hand as Light puts pressure on it. "Hehe, I know you understand so kill the others, shot them!" He demands as Matsuda cries with hatred in his eyes as he looks at Light. His whole body shakes as the gun shakes in his hands.

"You lead your own father to his death. Now he is gone and you call him a fool?" Light says nothing and tries to use his blood to finish writing Near's name. Matsuda shoots him five times on his arms, shoulders and abdomen. Light falls over into a puddle that has formed on the floor from a leaky roof on a rainy day.

"I'll kill him…I'll kill him! He has to die!" Matsuda stands over Light with the gun pointed at his forehead and shoots. Sani jumps at the gunshot and puts her hands on her head; she can't catch her breath as her body shakes and tears drown her face. She never thought it would go this far, but deep down she knew that someone might snap after learning the truth-after seeing the man who killed so many of those who just stood in his way. Matsuda misses Light as Mogi and Ide hold him back and Aizawa takes the gun from him.

"What the hell is this?" Light finds it harder to breath and even harder to get up. "Mikami, what are you waiting for? Write down their names! Write them down! Ah! Kill them now!"

Teru doesn't know what to do, but he does know that he looks pitiful. Light is covered in blood, rolling around in a puddle until he settles on his back. A light shines on him from the window on the roof as the sun comes out. He calls to Misa and Takada wondering where they are-wanting them to kill for him. Teru tears up seeing that Light is not God but scum and mad at himself for letting Light drag him into this situation. Knowing that he is going to jail for a long time, maybe even life he decides that he wants to end it, right here-right now. He takes the pen in his hand and stabs himself with enough force to impale himself deeply enough to cause external and internal bleeding. He also manages to reopen the wound he received last night. Bloodstreams from his body like a fountain as he screams in agony.

Sani heads for the door but she can't keep herself together; she can't see through the tears in her eyes and can't think about moving her body correctly with a distraught mind. She only manages to open the door slightly.

"Quick, stop the bleeding!" Ide tells Carter and Stephan.

"It's already too late. He will be dead in a few seconds." Stephan believes.

In the commotion, Light manages to get up after Ryuk denied his request to kill them for him. He makes his escape as everyone is distracted, somehow having the strength to open the door and run. He runs right pass Sani and they make direct eye contact. He doesn't ask why she is there or recognizes her and she doesn't recognize him, but the image of him moments before his death is still vivid to this day; a man running from death knowing that it will catch up to him because he is anything but immortal or divine.

He runs, slowly losing feelings in his arms and legs thinking of the boy he was before he found the death note; how hardened his heart already was back then and how his eyes always showed a deep disappointment for mankind. How innocent he was in believing that he could fix a rotten world and unaware of what the future holds when he found the tool to repair it with. Most importantly, he sees how alone he was in a world that doesn't comprehend his idea of justice and how alone he is now having no one to turn to. He sees himself six years ago reading a book while walking home, blocking out the world around him. He also sees how he was living a life of boredom; everything was too perfect, too unchanging in good and bad ways. One thing is for certain, he can never go back to those days even if he wanted to. Now, he finds himself in another warehouse with a small ceiling window that illuminates a staircase.

Back at the Yellow Box Warehouse, Aizawa, Matsuda, Ide and Mogi go after Light surprised that he was able to get away in his condition. Sani enters the warehouse to see Stephan still holding Teru as Halle gives Near the death note Aizawa had and Carter starts to call an ambulance but Sani stops him.

"What will you tell them when they come? No one needs to know what happened here." Sani can see that he is lightly breathing, but his eyes are closed. Stephan lays him on the floor.

"So you decided to come. I'm sorry that it came to this." Near crumbles up the piece of paper with his name and Light's blood on it. Sani sets her head on Teru's chest, in a pool of blood that sits there. Weakly he speaks,

"Taro, he does…look like me…at that…age."

"He is your son." He manages to put his hand on her shoulder.

"I'm sorry that I've…subjected him to…the same fate. I lost my father …when I was young too. Being a single mother…will be hard and raising a son without his father will…be even harder." He groans as sharp pains run through his body. "Promise me that you…will raise him better than my mother…raised me. Support him no matter…what his ideals and feelings…are about this world…maybe then will the real God answer his prayers…like he did mine all those years ago…before Kira. It is up to you…what those prayers…will be." He coughs up blood. She uses her body to apply pressure to his multiple stab wounds. Stephan looks away, feeling just a guilty as Sani.

"Teru, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry…please, don't leave me…don't leave us."

"It's too late...make Taro is your first priority. It's easy…to get lost…in this world…"

"Mikami, I'll help raise him. It's the least I can do…for the both of you." Stephan promises, but his promise is not heard here for Teru is dead.

Stephan uses his jacket to wipe the blood off Sani and carries her to the car he came in. He and Halle comfort him as Near and Carter wait for the other to return. Mogi and Ide couldn't find him but Matsuda and Aizawa keep looking after Sani points them in the right direction. Sani saw Ryuk fly off to find Light while sitting in the car. Soon, in the distance she sees him fly into the sky. When they return, they do without Light but know where his is.

"He's dead, Near from a heart attack. Ryuk, killed him and is nowhere to be found." Matsuda informs the rest as he holds Light's watch in his hand. They all go to the warehouse where Light spent his final moments before a heart attack kills him like so many of his victims; where this story of Kira and the death note ends. Sani is relieved that it is all finally over.

"A strange light shines here for a man who doesn't deserve it or that name. For such a tragic death, he looks pretty peaceful." Sani strokes his head like she did when he was a child, trying to see him in that light again.

**Dust**

Light lies on the stairs illuminated by the setting sun's rays. The pain from bullets wounds is nothing compared to his unwavering feeling of not wanting to die. Thud. He can feel his heart jump out of his chest. His eyes open as much as they can before slowly closing half-way. As they close an apparition appears before him, standing at the bottom of the stairs, waiting for him. He watches Light die with calm eyes. He stands over him with a hunched back and hands in his pockets- no smirk or smile. Light sees L. His eyes slowly close as death takes him lucky that the last image he sees is that of a friend-a rival who he losses to.

"Let us explore the world of nothingness together." L says, but Light does not return to nothingness yet.

When his eyes open again, he sees a cloudy gray sky as he lies on his back. He sits up to find himself in a place with a desolate landscape with no sign of life. Everything seems to be in grayscale. A person is sitting on a boulder looking at him.

"Where am I now, you scum?!" Teru grabs him by the collar of his shirt. No blood or stab wounds are on his body and Light can feel that his gunshot wounds are gone too.

"This doesn't look like nothingness to me…we are dead aren't we?" Light looks pass Teru to see shinigami in the distance. Teru lets go of Light as Ryuk appears behind Light.

"You're not there yet, Light. Welcome to the shinigami realm. The King of Death has chosen you to become shinigami whether you want to or not."

"Wait, we are shinigami…but we still look human?" Teru looks at his hands and feels the flesh still on his face.

"It will start soon; you two will look like death in no time." Light and Teru look at each other before they both collapse to the ground; clutching their hearts they simultaneously say,

"A heart attack…but we are already de-." Their hearts stop and then they are shocked back to life.

"What the hell was that, Ryuk?"

"Each person a human kills with the death note, they steal their energy. When that person dies by the shinigami's hand, the energy they collected is transferred to the King of Death and Earth. Each time you die, Light and Teru, you are slowly drained of the energy until it lies within the King and Earth. Then you will have the appearance of death as the King forms a chain to you so he can receive this energy-sustaining your life and his. If broken a shinigami must keep a death note in the hands of a human, killing that human to get the energy and then repeating the process. If the shinigami uses theirs, then the energy will still be diverted to the King and Earth."

By the time Ryuk finishes, Light and Teru had already suffered ten heart attacks. They look at each other to see if their appearance is changing but it stays the same. Teru lies on the ground waiting for the next one while Light stands in front of Ryuk and says,

"So I have more power than the King of Death currently, correct? The King and you shinigami share the energy you collect. I stole the energy of thousands of lives and share it with no one. The King is more vulnerable than you think, Ryuk. I have plenty of time until I become a shinigami. In the meantime I think I'll pay the King a visit." Light limps away. Teru sits up trying to work through the pain. "It's time for the shinigami realm for a change in leadership. Mikami, I have not failed…I will become God very soon." Ryuk smiles as Light has not ended his excitement yet. He leads Light and Teru to the King, shinigami hear about Light's mission and wait to see how this will turn out with great anticipation.

Arriving to where the King of Death resides, Ryuk and Teru look on as Light approaches him. A massive being with the texture of a person's insides, bones hanging from flesh, chains outstretched around him, a skull within an opened-mouth skull- he stares at Light already knowing why he's here.

"It's been a long time since I've seen a human like you. That is saying a lot since I've been around for thousands of years. So you think you can defeat me, Light Yagami. You can kill a human but you cannot kill a god. You are a human, Light Ygami despite your legacy."

"I've read the book; a real biblical like story on the origin of religion. You may be the _King_ of Death, but even you were killed to be created. Whatever Earth was before was killed in order for her to be created. The only thing that will remain forever is the universe that is far greater than any god. You and I are the same, we want to save Earth and prolong her life as much as possible. Humans… have ravaged her and think only of the future of their kind. We need to take back control and help them help themselves. Catastrophe is the only way…so you tell me, King why do you want to be a human- depending on Earth to keep you alive?"

"Silly human…silly shinigami; you cannot kill me, you will die too."

"Who said anything about killing? I shall merely replace you." Chains appear around Light that connects to new death notes of several other shinigami, including the now more visibly shinigami-like Teru. He used the energy he had from the humans he killed to make death notes and chains to sustain him. The king feels the chains breaking off his body as the energy is transferred to Light. A few of the hanging chains rise up and chain to Light, drawing him towards the King's mouth. The head lifts up exposing a gigantic ribcage containing a pure red light of the same size. It encases Light and seeps down the chains to all the other shinigami until all the chains are connected to the King of Death once again.

Yellow-Box Warehouse. Near, Sani, Stephan and Kiara wait for Lucca and Taro to arrive with the death notes. Sani holds onto the death note they obtained in North Korea. They face the only entrance to the warehouse; Stephan stands next to the door making sure they don't try to pull the same thing Teru attempted to do years ago. The door does not slide open slightly but slides open quickly. Taro walks in first while Lucca enters in second closely behind him with a backpack on his back. Stephan can see the excitement in Lucca's eyes and the fear in Taro's. Belphagor is nowhere to be seen.

"So, everyone is here; all the players in the game, how exciting." Lucca expresses.

"You brought the death notes with you, Lucca?" Stephan asks.

"I did and all I need is the one you have. Hand it over and I shall spare your lives…including Taro's."

"Taro, so you don't want to kill us? I knew it; I knew Lucca was the one with the evil intentions." Kiara is relieved but Taro says nothing and hangs his head.

"Hand over the death notes, Lucca. This is no game! The death notes have no place in the human world. Mankind, shinigami and Earth lives are at stake. There will be no future for anyone if World War III happens. Give up on your childish notions of becoming a God of destruction and no one has to die here…we can save everyone." He smiles at him, taunting him, teasing him, showing him that death does not scare him either.

"Ha, save everyone, really Near. No matter what happens people will die. The war will happen and I will be alive and ready to lead as a shinigami, as their King! It doesn't matter if I die…you are too concerned with trying to keep everyone alive. You lose, Near. You will die sooner or later and be nothing but bones in the ground."

Stephan points his gun at Lucca and Sani and Kiara move in to get his backpack. Lucca readies his death note.

"Stay back or I will kill Taro! I already wrote down his first name." He shows them the death note. Stephan still aims at him,

"I bet my bullet will kill you before you can make that move."

"No! I can't let you live with the killing of a child on your conscious. Put the gun down, Stephan." Sani steps in the gun's path to Lucca. "I have the death note Lucca. Let them go and I will give it to you and Taro. Promise me you will not kill them and I won't finish writing your name in my death note." She shows him his name in her death note.

"Fine, they can go but you stay." Stephan lowers the gun and puts it away still feeling very uneasy about the situation. Kiara and Near look at Taro to see eyes full of sorrow. Ryuk whispers to them as they leave,

"Taro gave up ownership of all the death notes. I can see his lifespan and there isn't many numbers."

Sani holds the death note in her hand. Lucca commands Taro to retrieve the death note from Sani. She hands it to him without resistance. Still, he says nothing to his mother.

"You're the last one, Sani. I've waiting so many years to have a face to go with the name, Sani Wammy."

"You're his son aren't you?"

"The others have been taken care of by Kira, but he seemed to have missed you. You let my father die, just like Taro's. Now I shall kill you both for causing the death of my father."

"I believed your father to be innocent and Taro has nothing to do with this!"

"Do you know how I found out my father and mother? My drunk aunt told me as she was beating me just because she felt like it, because her husband had died and she wanted to take her anger out on someone. You left me with that despicable excuse of a caretaker!" He barks at her but he calms himself down. "She's dead now, I killed her and her stupid boyfriend like Kira killed Teru Mikami and that real murderer. You're next."

"Lucca, I will kill you with my bare hands before you finish writing the S in my name! You hear me!"

"Oh really let's test that theory." Lucca takes out a pen and a death note. As he places the point on the page, the death note is ripped from his hands. "What?!" He looks behind him to see Telivhan with intense red eyes.

"You shall die before writing down a letter in her name."

Earlier that day, Belphagor tells Lucca and Taro that he is leaving them to find the King and Earth having unfinished business to take care of.

"Watch your back, Lucca. Taro wants to kill you when this is all over. I advise you kill him before he kills you." Belphagor releases his wings and flies off to the shinigami realm. There he confronts the King and demands to know where Earth is.

"She is inside you as she is inside me. Every time your eyes glow red, you can feel the faint light, the faint energy she shares with you." The King lifts his massive body up to expose the red lights swirling inside of him. "Killing me or Earth means you will kill yourself."

The red light circles around Belphagor like blood circulating through veins in the body; he is mesmerized by how his eyes glow without his control, how comforting the light feels to his bones. From the light, he hears a strong voice speak,

"When the blood in your veins returns to the sea and the earth in your bones returns to the ground, perhaps then you will remember that this land does not belong to you, it is you who belongs to this land. I will need your energy like the brothers before you have given. Belphagor my child rest now; we have a plan to make all right again." The red light transforms into streams of lightning, water, rocks, fire and clouds flowing from the face of a woman with the most heavenly expression anyone has ever seen. He is the first shinigami to see the being called Earth.

He reaches out his hand to her slowly turning back into his human form,

"All I ever wanted was to be the best, to surpass L and be the world's greatest…person, be I recognized for good or evil. I see now that I am great having Earth personally wanting my help; seeing that L, Kira and the King failed to stop me and you had to step in. Earth, thank you." His skull head floats away from his face to reveal the face of a young man who changed his appearance to look identical to his rival. His eyes glow red with great satisfaction as he enters the arms of his mother. Fading away no shinigami is attached to the death notes in Lucca's and Near's possession.

"Telivhan! Why? Lucca won't die." Lucca runs away towards the door but trips over his own feet, spraining his ankle. Telivhan walks to Sani and Taro

"Yes he will; Belphagor is gone. I remember... Sani, Taro I am happy I finally met God. She's everything I imagined her to be." As he turns to dust he appears as his human self again for brief seconds: Teru the father of Taro, former Kira, prosecutor and boyfriend of Sani. "I will always love the both of you." He turns into sand and seeps through the cracks in his family's hands. Taro is broken out of the spell the death note had over him.

"I deserve to die. I wanted to do whatever was necessary to carry out my father's will-get rid of anyone in my way…I was going to kill all of you."

"Taro, your father was right before you. Teru Mikami is your father not Light Yagami."

"Then I realized that Lucca would stand in my way and wanted revenge against the world that has made his life a living hell. He wanted the world to burn; I wanted the world to reform."

"As did your father. It took him until his death to realize he was doing more harm than good…that good can't exist without evil. It's just human nature."

"Yeah I guess he really is my father then. Lucca already wrote my name in the death note before we came here. He was controlling my action before I die, but I guess his death freed me. I love you mom, I sorry it took me this long to realize that." Sani puts her hand over her mouth in disbelief. Suddenly the pile of dust flies into the air as Taro falls over from a heart attack.

"No! Taro…Taro!" Sani wipes the dust off his face and cradles him in her chest. "I'm sorry…I'm so sorry! My baby, please don't go." She rocks back and forth, soaking his hair with her tears.

"What? No…I can't die. I won't die. Taro will though, he's already dead. He won't become a shinigami, I won't let him. I'll become a shinigami and the first thing I'll do is kill you, Sani! You hear me! I will kill you by the most unbearable death imaginable." He digs his nails into the floor until they are bloody, grinds his teeth in anticipation for the heart attack and smirks at the lifeless body of Taro in his helpless mother's hands. She raises her head with dagger eyes,

"Nothing you do to kill me will hurt as much as my life has. I'm not afraid to die, I'm afraid to live in world of pain with all the people I love dying well before their time. So come on, kill me! I deserve it anyways…I failed L…Light…Mello…Matt…Teru and my son."

She sets Taro on his father's remains and walks over to Lucca who is on his back. His face is frozen with a complex expression of fear and satisfaction. She reaches down and turns him over to his stomach and takes the backpack off his back. She empties its contents surprised to see he actually brought the death notes with him. She yells,

"Near, you can come back in, it's all over." The door slams open with Stephan rushing in first and runs straight to Sani. Kiara enters and looks around the room to see Taro and Lucca unresponsive before falling to her knees. Near retrieves the death notes and hands them to Ryuk before cradling Kiara. Stephan and Near walk the women over to Taro once again feeling guilty of causing unintentional deaths. Following the same fate as his father he dies in the hands of the struggle for justice at the warehouse that concludes another story of the death note once again. Ryuk looks over the city like he did seven years ago to see it still calm on the surface but internally chaos runs rapid through the streets. He flies off to see the skies becoming painted with orange from distant fires on the lands and seas. World War III has begun.

**Earth**

"I wanted her to suffer for leading my father to his death as you wanted her to suffer for not protecting your father from Kira. I never wished death on her unlike you. If that is what you wish, Lucca, write down my name…I can't face them after all I've done. All I ask is that you spare my family. Let Earth decide their fates. They will give you the death note when I die seeing that you are serious with your threats. They won't kill you…if captured then that's on you. If you can't promise me that, then I will kill you when I become a shinigami and make sure you perish when you become a shinigami."

"Humph, as you wish. I'll control your every movement before you die. Thanks for making this encounter ten times easier. Sorry my friend-it had to end this way. No matter if you or I or humans, shinigami or Earth kills them…they will die and I will survive. I will become God of the new world, I will become the King of Death and I will rule Earth…a new world of perfection will be mine, my rule absolute!" Lucca begins to write down his name and events leading to Taro's death. Taro walks away and says to himself,

"No, Lucca. Earthhas a plan for a shinigami told me so…you and I are just pawns in a game of chess, L and Light the knights, my mother and Near the rooks, my sister and Stephan the bishops, the King of Death and the Queen of Life. Our deaths will aid in a draw between Earth and Space before we destroy all."

Winchester, England December 21st, 2020. Stephan chisels away at a headstone as Kiara plants flowers around the bases of the gravestones already there; blue, pink, red, yellow-colors that represent the person they cradle. Nate cleans the old stones by power wash while Roger brings them a tray of snacks and tea. Six new tombstones occupy plots in the family graveyard; Light's and Soichiro's were relocated to a plot beside L, while Teru's is next to Light's, Taro's next to his father's and Lucca's lies between his father, Micca's and mother, Ren's graves. Stephan's hand trembles as he etches the name of the sixth until Kiara places her hands on his' and says,

"She told me that she hoped that moving Taro to Mantua would help Lucca have a friend he could bond with; telling me that both boys had terrible mothers-failed guardians and fathers who were victims of the death note 'curse' she called it. They did find each other and became friends…but that friendship was fatal. She always blamed herself for the actions others chose to take. I never blamed her, not once…she did guide us**: **me, Mello, Matt, Light, and Taro. I guess I was just a little more receptive than Taro, no I was just lucky I got to meet my father before he died." Stephan sits back and hangs his arms off his knees.

"A boy needs his father, we need to know what kind of man he was so we can surpass them and be even greater. I tried to be that father figure but my influence wasn't enough…I never realized how lost he was, how much he resented his mother. In the end he had change of heart but it was too late. Taro wanted us to die because he loved us and to save us from Lucca, he gave up his life instead. You're right, we can't blame ourselves for others choices; that's my conclusion anyways."

Stephan heads inside to Sani's old bedroom where she lies in bed. She sits up as Stephan opens her door to bring her a cup of Earl Grey tea. She scoots over to let Stephan sit beside her as she drinks it; he stokes her hair from her roots down her back to her waist feeling her body become warmer if only for a few seconds. She lets out a cough as the tea goes down the wrong pipe. He pats her back gently as she tries to catch her breath. When she does she lies back down and wraps the cover around her hoping to trap the heat from her body from escaping. Kiara and Near enter the room. Kiara pulls up a chair to her bed while Near stands behind her.

"Mom, do you think mankind will make it?" Kiara asks.

"If I died right now with a loved one by my side, I'd be grateful. Death will be kind to you once you accept it. Promise me though; if you survive…help make the world wonderful again. A world where it's okay to make mistakes and be flawed, a world where the fear of death makes those want to live out each day to the fullest, where loss makes us love even more; a world where none can take the freedom of choice away and tyrant the justice of consequence. Promise me you will do a much better job than your father and I did."

"Of course, mother." Sani kisses Kiara on the forehead before she and Near head back to the UN meeting. A few days later, Sani gets out of bed and heads to the roof of Wammy House with Stephan to see people scouring the streets trying to find shelter. An alarm sounds meaning danger is near. On the roof they wait; not many have felt the intense power of a tsunami especially in England. Stephan sits back, relaxed as if he was watching a movie or TV show. Sani stands up with open arm as the wave engulfs her favorite church. Ding. Dong. Ding. Dong.

"I kissed you on the forehead and you left, but you are here now, I'm glad. It was a beautiful way to die though." she says to her family as she lies in bed telling them of the dream she had. Ryuk stands over as an angel of death while Kiara, Stephan, Near and Roger are at her bedside. Softly, a heart attack takes her last breath away. With eyes still open, she sees Teru and L reach for her as a white light shines upon Taro's smiling face that greets her.

"This must be heaven." Sani sees heaven the way she believes it to be.

Ding. Ding. Ding. Church bells ring as a wedding guests gather in a church. They all stand as the bride walks down the aisle. Her grandfather walks her down the aisle trying to hold back tears of joy. In the crowd is her family and friends even some people she never met; orphans from Wammy House, people from law school, people from the law firm she worked at, some members of the International Task Force and their families, her uncle, aunt and her cousin's son, Misa, Takada, Micca, Lucca, Reiji, Roger, Avon, Bran, Matt, and Mello. Standing on one side of the alter is the bridal party while the other side is occupied by the groom's. Kimi, Halle, Sayu, and Kiara wear matching purple dresses and flowers in their hair. Kiara holds a box in her hand with the ring for the groom. Through her veil she looks at the groom's side. Near, Light, Teru and one other man stands before her. Something she said a long time ago comes back to mind as she smiles at this man,

"One day I will get married in that church. I will hear the bells chime. Ding-Ding-Ding. Promise me, you will be there. I want you to hear the happy bells too and not the sad ones."

L holds in his hand the ring for the bride. Watari gives her away to Stephan as Reverend Solomon Divine marries them. They passionately kiss as their guest throw up flowers and clap. Kiara twirls Near's hair for him as Matt hangs his head in defeat and Mello laughs at his failure. Light and L give each other a firm handshake before Misa sneaks in a hug, becoming sandwiched between them. Taro hugs his father for the first time-finally seeing the face of the man he longed to see. It's all Taro ever wanted, to know who his father was so he can judge for himself the kind of man his father was. Taro smiles at Sani as everyone bursts into light becoming thousands of tiny fireflies that fly to the sky to join the blanket of light that covers Earth. At its core is a child made of water, fire, air, plants and rocks. Stretching out from her fetal position as the lights wake her; she regains the energy to dance again. As she dances, life returns, nature is reborn and seasons change. Smaller than her mother, Terra now revolves around the sun where Earth once did. She hopes that one day she will be just as great as her mother and repair the relationship humans have with her.

Sani eyes open to see a world devoid of life and color. Ryuk kneels over her holding her hands as she sits up.

"Ryuk…where am I?"

"He wants to see you before you die." He picks her up and carries her away in his arms. As they fly she sees other shinigami flying behind him as they all make their way to The King. Arriving, Ryuk sets her down before joining the rest of the shinigami who look on from the sky. The massive being known as The King of Death speaks,

"Sani Wammy, you have read the origin story but there is more you need to know. Earth drew its energy from the plants that nurtured her, the moon and the stars that die near her. Humans and animals were created by Space or better known as the Galaxy to kill Earth for being a celestial body unlike any other-a threat to the Solar System. Human used animals for their own survival so their threat wasn't as major. When humans die their energy returns to Space and not Earth; the more energy going to Space, the weaker Earth becomes, the more likely a major catastrophe will happen that will kill Earth. The death note may be unlimited in pages but its power has a limit; if humans were killed by the masses by another human the energy would be lost to Space; killing humans in smaller quantities with the death note over time helps Earth steal energy gradually for constant protection. Her strength is dwindling with this world war and she doesn't have much time left…even Earth has a lifespan. You hold much energy from all the people who died at the hands of the death notes Ryuk gave me, your life is extended much beyond your time. Sani, please relinquish that energy to myself and Earth."

Sani stares into the exposed light from the King's core scared of its blood-likeness but amazed by how gentle it is to the eyes. She walks towards the small light and begins to see two figures in the distance. As she gets closer she sees a figure of a woman of great radiance holding a heart made of rock and water with air and fire encasing it in her hands. She cradles the heart as the elements around it crack, become polluted and extinguish slowly. The other figure is man holding out a red apple to her with a serious face. Behind him is the previous King of Death who has shrunken in size but holds the new King's conscious inside his boneycage.

"Light…you've been watching over me all this time. Sending Ryuk and Teru to protect me so I could help you save the world. You got what you wanted, though…you are a God."

"I did become God of a new world to me- the shinigami realm. I needed your help with correcting my mistakes. When I became King I allowed the shinigami to go into the human world to cause havoc, but Earth informed me of the damage I was causing forcing me to hunt down the rogue shinigami and retrieve energy for Earth."

"How did you become the King or better yet a shinigami?"

"All shinigami including the King were once humans. As you know the King was The Messiah, Nu was "The Virgin Mary" or mother of the human who became the King of Death, Justin was the Egyptian pharaoh Ramses II (The Great), Daril was a Chinese princess named Changping, Rem was Amalasuntha- queen of Goths, Zellogi was a Native American chief Tenskwatawa, Ryuk was a Roman emperor Nero, Gukku was an African leader of the Zulu called Shaka, Sidoh was Cyrus the Great of Achaemenid Empire, Midora was empress Suiko of Japan, Deridovely was King Leonidas of Sparta, Calikarcha was the Indian King Chandragupta II , Kinddara was Queen Isabella of Castile and Aragon, and Gelus was King Tut-the boy king of Egypt. All were humans who were given a death note and used them for different reasons and motivations, but all killed humans for Earth. Being as smart as I am, I saw the weakness The King had to a human on its way to becoming a shinigami…as you can see however, he still has a hold on me."

"I never thought God would exist in a place like this...so he's the Old Testament and you're the New?" Sani places one hand on the apple and the other on his chest where his heart would lie under. Strangely, she feels a heartbeat. She looks into the former King's red eyes feeling warmth coming from his bones like he had flesh.

"I hope my actions can start making up for the trouble I caused but in no way am I seeking forgiveness. No more death notes will be let into the human world and the shinigami and I will abide by the rules Earth and the King before me set in stone. However, I still don't mind killing more criminals than the innocent though."

Light smiles at Sani as the apple and his being take away the energy, the added years onto her lifespan until they are all gone. Sani lifts her hands from the apple and his chest seeing that it has become transparent. Light gives the apple to Earth and she eats it; the heart in her hand grows in size until an immense red light beam from it. Some of it swirls around Sani and forms a path so she can find her way out. The King of Death, Light Yagami gives Earth the energy to create a great catastrophe to severely reduce human populations by a natural disaster, allowing Earth to recover while the humans do the same; no one is safe from the inevitable that is death and yet most try to prolong its advent.

"God is Earth and a messiah is the King of Death.There is no heaven or hell; death is equal for all besides the ones cursed with life sustained by death. All live, all die and all can cease to exist when the cycle is broken; Earth's greatest burden is sustaining the lives of the very things that threaten its life. A perfect world can never be created for humans weren't born to be perfect or to create. There is no true justice, no right or wrong and trying to justify what is-is pointless. Absolute power corrupts absolutely-always." Sani says to Ryuk as she leaves the shinigami realm. Following the red lights, she sees two shinigami who are smaller than the rest and knows they must be Taro and Lucca. They talk to Justin hoping to learn more about the death note having no recollection of their human lives. Sani can't help but to feel happy that her son is in a better place with his best friend and both are free from their fathers' legacies. Sani continues walking and as she does, Ryuk stops following her as the red lights fade away.

"Go on, Mu is up ahead…everyone is waiting for you." She kisses him on the cheek. Ryuk blushes and tries to let her phase through his body but she isn't there anymore. She laughs and walks into the blackness as a transparent; no energy of Earth or light or darkness of Space present.


End file.
